The Darkest Hour
by annagirl18
Summary: I hate summaries because they can ruin a lot of stories. So, I will tell you this: It is twisted, completely diabolical and Tai is basically going to be the main protagonist. And just wait, people will get hurt and there is no time for BS. A new villain has arrived and is prepared to destroy everyone and everything.
1. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON. BUT I DID CREATE THE VILLIANS. ALL OF THEM ARE NEW AND MINE.

It had been almost ten years since anyone needed to go back to the Digiworld. It seemed as though things were calm and everything was in order; finding partners for eager kids and digimon was being taken care of and run with the best of operators. Everyone had accepted the that there was another world within the mundane and all of the destined had grown up well.

Except something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Kari-

"I'm off!" Kari shouted to her Mother. Mrs. Kamiya called from the kitchen, a loud banging noise accompanying her farewell to her daughter. Kari debated waking Tai, but decided against it.

 _He was old enough now to get up on his own, the idiot,_ she sighed. _Besides, he probably is not even in there! He's probably on the fields practicing. Oh, I forgot, he does have a game in a few days._

Walking to the bus stop, she climbed on board and watched the busy streets of her town. University was fun and all, but sometimes even the best optimist had their down days. She hadn't seen her brother in almost a week and everyone else seemed to be too busy themselves. TK hung out with her enough, along with Davis. But poor Yolei and Ken worked their tails off in school every day. Cody was busy with his high school friends and clubs. Sora and Matt were still dating, both dedicated to either the band or tennis. That left Joe, who was buried in medical school papers, Mimi's constant traveling and Izzy's obsessive love for always being in front of a computer.

Her brother was a whole other story. Between his soccer team, studying, and managing the Digiworld's new 'trading post', along with recruiting partners, he barely had a second to catch his breath.

Basically, everybody was just too busy for each other anymore. So, this picnic today should be just the thing to rally the friendship back into them. Even Mimi was coming! Of course, Matt had pretended to be on the fence with his decision, but Sora will definitely make sure he came. The only person who had not given the okay was Tai. Kari would ask, but he never even answers his cell phone half the time.

Tai-

"And he receives the pass with ease, moving the ball with total grace and agility! Tai Kamiya sees the goal, he shoots and bam, he scores again!"Agumon yelled. The soccer ball shot through the two posts, hitting the net cleanly before falling down. Tai wiped his brow, taking a minute to breath. He and Agumon had been at this for almost two hours. The game was three days away and Tai felt as ready as a newbie just learning how to play. Of course, in reality he was the best on his team and known throughout the town for being one of the best university players in several districts. He had made the national rankings and proven to be a strong and flexible player, valuable for his team's victories. But, this game was a bit different: scouts would be there. And not just any scouts, the scouts. These men would decide whether or not Tai was good enough to play for Japan's national team. It was all he could think about for months.

 _Just two more days,_ he thought. _Just two more days of practicing and worrying_.

Tai sat down on the bench, gratefully drinking from the cup of water Agumon handed him.

"Tai?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you're worried about this game and it's been your number one priority for about two months now… But what about the picnic today? Are you going to go? You never told Kari."

Tai stayed silent for a minute, thinking as he stared at his water.

"I don't know," he started slowly, "I want to go, but I don't really want to go. I haven't talked to anyone really. It's been two months since I've even seen or heard from Matt."

"Yeah, but you've been distant even before this, ever since Sora. But lately, you have been focusing on soccer as your excuse."

"My excuse?" Tai looked at his partner. Agumon grinned feebly, putting his paw on Tai's knee.

"I meant that it seems like you are keeping something from me and hiding it by focusing on this match. Please tell me what is wrong. Why don't you want to see your friends?"

"Agumon, you might not understand but sometimes humans, even humans that are friends with each other, just don't want to see each other. Sometimes, feelings about people change for reasons you don't even know."

"Oh," Agumon looked down. "Well, I guess it makes a bit of sense. I'll just let the other digimon know. Gabumon was really excited to see us!" Tai looked at his partner. Agumon was smiling but he could tell that it hurt him to be away from every one for so long. Sighing, Tai rubbed Agumon's head, smiling at him.

"Okay, we'll go. I may not stay for a long time, but we can go."

Kari—

TK and Davis waved at her, waiting near their usual pick up spot. Thankfully, they all had signed up for the same English class and it was the only class of the day.

"Let's see, I didn't do the reading and I know that you both did. Spill, what happens to the stuffy guy?"

"Romeo?" asked Kari, laughing at Davis' usual start to a Monday. "Well, he thought Juliet was dead, so he kills himself. Than Juliet finds him and she kills herself to be with him too."

"Basically, they are two stupid, young lovers who had no business being together?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Um, not exactly the moral of the story, but it is the basic concept." Said TK. "At least it makes for a good debate."

"Oh no, no more debating!" Davis sighed. "Mrs. Okia always has to argue her opinion!"

"Well, she is the English teacher and you always have a different take on the book."

"So? That just means that I am a creative thinker and she's just a bitter woman with no life other than her books!" he huffed, crossing his arms.

"Okay, okay, calm down." laughed TK, "No need to get so riled up. By the way, what time is the picnic again, Kari?"

"It's at 2, so we can just leave class and go there."

"Do we need to bring anything? I know you said we could just pick stuff up at the store, but do we need to go to any of our houses for stuff?"

"Nope, we should be set after the store! Thankfully, everyone agreed to pitch in."

"I'm surprised my brother agreed to this." TK replied, shaking his head. "With his attitude I assumed he would've just blown this off, but it seems that he actually wants to come. It's weird and I don't think I like it!"

"He's probably being egged on by Sora." Said Davis. "Let's face it, she's got him tied around her finger." They all laughed, knowing the truth behind that statement was totally accurate.

"Wait, what about Tai?" TK asked. They had reached the classroom and took their seats towards the back corner.

Kari sighed. She shook her head.

"I have no idea. I haven't physically seen him in days and every time he comes home, he grabs a bit of food and goes straight to his room. And he's barely there in the mornings too. Usually, he goes off to practice."

"Is he eating enough though? With all that practicing and everything else he has on his plate, he needs to at least be eating and sleeping."

"The last time I checked, he was eating less. He looks pretty skinny, but it comes with being tall ya know?"

They went silent, every one lost in their own thoughts. Davis understood Tai better than TK, and knew what this game meant to him. Hell he planned on being there in the crowd watching Tai win. But, he knew that Kari was worried sick. He brother was always the glue to everything: the team, the Digiworld, and their family. It was weird not hearing from him or seeing him a few times a week.

Finally, Davis spoke up.

"I'm sure he'll come around Kari. He's probably just super busy right now and couldn't tell you. That game is really important to him."

"Yeah, you're right. It'll be fine! Thanks."

Gennai—

"Well, I never thought something like this would ever happen." Gennai mumbled to himself. He was staring at a digital map of the Digiworld, his hand scratching his head in worry. "I think I should warn every one about this…"

"Gennai, what is it?" A familiar voice rang out.

"Oh, why hello Piximon. Did you notice it too?"

"Hey, Gennai, long time no see. I noticed a black lining around the outskirt of the mountain just now. What is it?"

"I haven't the slightest clue, but it seems to be a seam in the system. I believe the Digiworld is being 'broken into'. By what or by who… well, that is the mystery."

"Are you going to warn the children?" Piximon asked, staring at the screen in awe.

"No. Not yet. I don't want to rustle feathers if the chickens are actually sleeping."

"Sir, what does that mean?"

"It means I don't want to stir up a false alarm… it is a human saying I picked up recently from Taichi… Oh, never mind. Just keep this quiet. It might be nothing for now."

Kari-

It was 2 pm and every one was arriving for the lunch.

 _The park was the perfect place to do this!_ She thought. Smiling, she took Mimi's basket of food and set it down, turning to give the pretty girl a hug.

"Oh, I missed you all so much! Paris was fun, but it doesn't feel as nice as Japan!" she giggled. Joe set down his tray of wrapped sandwiches, going over to talk to Izzy. So far, they were waiting on Ken, Cody and Matt and Sora. Tai was still in class but texted her that he was coming. She had been so relieved when he finally answered her. Worrying about him was putting a strain on her focus in class and that text lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.

Matt and Sora arrived just then, arm and arm. They set down their big bowl of fruit salad and watermelon slices.

"It is such a nice day!" Sora exclaimed, hugging Kari. "Thanks for setting this up, Kari. It looks so nice."

"Oh, no problem, Sora. Thank you for bringing so much food."

"You're welcome. Is Tai coming?" she asked, looking around the group. "I haven't seen him in almost two months. I know he's super busy preparing for his game though."

"Yeah, he will be a bit late, but he said he was coming ASAP after his class."

"Seems like he is never around anymore, huh?" Matt asked. Gabumon and Biyomon looked at each other. They knew that both of their partners felt bad for what had happened all those years ago between the three and understood Tai's sacrifice.

"Yeah, I have barely seen him and we live in the same house." Kari sighed, her shoulder sagging. Sora noticed the worried look on her face.

"Cheer up Kari," she said, putting her hand warmly on her shoulders. "He is fine. He's Tai, remember? Scatter- brained and always busy with something, ya know?" she smiled. Kari returned and smile half- heartedly and nodded.

"Oh, look," said Izzy, "It's Yolei and Cody." The two had walked together, Cody carrying a few bags of chips and crackers, and Yolei carrying the drinks.

"Howdy, every one!" she called. "Looks like almost everyone is here!"

"Yep, we are just waiting on Tai now!" called Mimi.

While half of the group busied themselves setting up the table in a buffet- like style, the others started unfolding the blankets to place together creating one big table on the grass. The digimon all helped by setting down silverware and napkins in spots, with some of them ensuing tiny sword fights with the knives. It was almost ten minutes later when a familiar figure started towards the group.

"Well, speak of the devil!" said Izzy. "Hey, it's Tai." Everyone stopped to wave. Kari walked over, giving him a quick hug.

"I literally haven't seen you in days. What have you been doing?" She eyed her brother, hands on her hips.

"Sorry, I've been at the fields a lot lately. I have only two days left, so I haven't been able to concentrate on much else." He replied, grinning and scratching his head.

Thankfully, his bushy hair had calmed down, and become an attractive style since going to the barber. It was still spikey, but in a more mature way.

"Well, I can smell days of practice coming from you too." She smiled. He was wearing practice clothes and from the looks of the face grass stains and sweat marks, just come from a quick round.

"Yeah, class ended early but I wanted to hit some shots first before I came." He walked towards to group, receiving hugs from everyone who was brave enough. Mimi squeaked and ran to hug him.

"Jeezus, I haven't seen you in so long I barely recognized you!"

"Mimi, it's only been like a month."

"Well, yeah but I it was a long month and I missed you all!"

"Okay, okay." He laughed. "I get it, I missed you too. So, when do we start eating?"

Sora-

From the looks of it, the picnic was a success. Now that the whole gang was back together, she could see that they had all really missed each other. They had been apart and separated for a little too long. It seemed that even though they were not very far physically from each other, they had been far apart mentally for a while now. She never knew that Yolei had received an award for a new experiment she had come up with, or that Izzy had finally developed a computer software system for transferring data from presumably deleted files back to your computer. Where had she been? Wrapped up in tennis to the point of no return, she figured. At least Tai was still actively engaging in the digiworld; Biyomon was her only link now.

However, she noticed something odd.

Tai.

He wasn't the same. His usual happy- go- lucky demeanor was gone. It was replaced by a more mature, serious Tai, who was quiet during the meal and laughed and smiled every so often. Not once had he raised his voice in a conversation or started one. It was as if he was being distant on purpose… with all of them. And he looked thinner, like someone who was stretched thin from too much responsibility in a short amount of time. His plate had barely any food on it and hardly any of it had been touched.

"Tai, why aren't you eating?" she asked. Suddenly, everyone had become aware of Tai's meager plate.

"What, you aren't hungry? You?" asked Davis incredulously. "You're always hungry!"

"Too much practicing and not enough eating will get you sick Tai." Said Joe, looking at him as if scolding a small child.

"Whoa, whoa, guys I'm fine. I'm just not that hungry right now." He said, holding up his hands.

"But Tai, I haven't seen you eat in days." Said Kair, shooting her brother a worried look from across the make- shift table.

"Look, I'm fine. Totally fine, guys. I have been eating, you just haven't seen it." He said. Sora noticed the smile on his face faltering. It was turning into annoyance.

"Well, we are just worried, that's all. We want you to do your best for your match!" she explained, trying to quail the situation she caused.

"But he does look a bit thin." Ken observed. Sora shot him a dirty look.

"Maybe just eating a bit more right now would help Kari's worries though." Said Yolei. "Just like a few bites more."

"Alright, stop." Tai said, his voice dropping. He was irritated and Sora knew something was about to happen. "I don't need you guys jumping down my throat right now. I said I was fine, so can we please just drop it?"

The group was silent. Tai wasn't one to become angry or upset. He would have smiled and joked with everyone, not this. This was new and no one knew how to take it.

Kari spoke up quietly, keeping her head down.

"We are sorry, Tai. We didn't mean to seem like we were doing that or attacking you. We are all just worried. None of us have really been in contact lately with everyone but you seem to have disappeared for a while and-"

Suddenly, he stood up.

"I'm leaving. I'll see you later, Kari." And he walked away.

Agumon, shocked but distraught by his partner, nodded to everyone before leaving.

"Well, gosh, that was…"

"Unexpected?" stated Izzy. "Seems like we pushed a nerve. But, I have never seen him act that way over anything… especially something as trivial as this."

"Wait guys, give it a minute." Said Sora, looking at Kari. She was still looking at her disappearing brother, but he eyes were slowly filling with tears.

"He's mad at me, isn't he?" she asked quietly. Sora looked at Matt.

"He's probably mad at himself for letting us catch him in the act, but is too big of an idiot to admit it." He shrugged.

"Matt, that is not helpful." Sora scolded. "Just let him blow off some steam, Kari. He just needs to get this match over with. You'll see."

Somewhere between the Digiworld and the real world-

"Ahh, yesss." chuckled a faint voice. "So, it seems the digidestined have become… distant."

The voice carried through a dark room, filled with small screens. They were glowing with scenes from the past months; all of the digidestined. The recent one made the owner laugh. He was amused by these human feelings and the troubles of these little brats.

"Soon, a courageous leader. You will turn that anger into something useful to me. I'll let you play your little game and then I shall take you and torture you and turn you into exactly what I need." The voice's owner flicked the biggest screen to show Tai walking away. "Yessss… veryyy sooonn my dear boy."


	2. Chapter 2

I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON, JUST ALL THE NEW VILIANS.

Chapter 2:

Sora-

"Well, I don't know what to say anymore, Matt. He was acting so strange the whole time. Didn't you notice?"

"I mean, he wasn't as talkative I guess." Sighed Matt. Tai's little burst had caused question within the group. No one had talked to him in two days and with his match coming up, they all had wanted to go surprise him by going. Matt had even cancelled his band practice for this. He had phoned Tai at least five times yesterday, but no dice. "We just need to let him focus on this game."

"But-"

"I promise he will be fine. I got to go, okay? I'll call you tomorrow before we meet to head over to the stadium."

"Fine. Okay, goodnight." She hung up quickly, slamming her cellphone down on the bed. Matt was always like this, so passive when it came to serious things. Sora just couldn't shake the anger she had saw in his eyes. And poor Kari was beyond herself with worry.

 _Tai, you had better have a good excuse for acting that way,_ she thought.

Matt—

He hung up the phone, putting it back in its holder. Sora was right: Tai was acting totally strange the whole time. He had never seen him so quiet. But it wasn't just worry for the match he sensed from his best friend.

 _It was like a switch had gone off and another had flipped on, he thought. He was so calm and then snapped in seconds._

Matt had noticed their distance. He knew that taking Sora away had hurt his friend. But they had made up, always sticking so close. Like night and day, they were so different but complemented each other so well. He had even bought Matt a new guitar over the years! It was crazy to think that two months apart could do this. Tai was always so busy though. The digiworld was his life and his top priority next to soccer, and Matt had a band to keep up.

Sighing, he shook his head. It would do no good just sitting here and thinking about it. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.

"I'll get it!" said Gabumon. Opening the door, he was greeted by TK and Patomon.

"Hey, bro. What's up?" Matt asked.

"Have you heard from Tai at all?"

"Nope. Seems he went off the radar."

"Yeah, figured so. Kari's been so worried about him." He walked in and sat down on the bed. "But that isn't what I wanted to ask you about."

"What is it then?" Matt turned to fully face his brother. He never had serious talks with him unless it was important.

"Well, Patamon has something to say."

"I think something is wrong in the Digiworld."

"What do you mean?" asked Matt, narrowing his eyes.

"I haven't heard a word from Gennai about anything. I usually get some message about the status of the digiworld. But, this time, nothing. I tried to reach him to see how everything was."

"Gennai usually is hard to reach though."

"No, this time it was different. It was like I was being blocked by something."

"Blocked?" Matt said questioningly. It was very like Gennai to leave the kids in the dark for a long time, but never like him to be 'blocked'.

"Matt, we don't know officially, but there may be a problem that Gennai can't tell us about." Said TK.

"Gabumon, have you sensed this too?"

"Honestly, I felt a rift in the system just a few days ago. It felt like something had… popped. Like the digiworld was inaccessible for an instant. I wondered if the other digimon had felt it too, so I asked at the picnic. They all said yes. But apparently, no one has said anything since we don't want to worry you guys."

"I appreciate the gesture, but you should have told me!" said Matt.

"I'm sorry Matt, I will next time."

"Should we mention it to the others?" asked TK. Patamon nodded.

"I told him yes."

"I think so. But after Tai's game."

Tai-

The digiworld felt… odd. It was like something had come in and out leaving behind a foul smell. Tai looked around the small town. It was the newest trading post that had been established. It was a connection ground for people all over the world to come and meet a digimon, hopefully being set up with a partner. It was Tai's job to keep everything running smoothly and making sure the children could handle a partner before they left with one. It was Agumon's duty to train the partners for the human world. So far, the duo had been successful and everyone loved their partners. There were always those 'certain' cases, but they dealt with those easily.

"Hey, Tai. I have three new digimon recruits." Called Agumon. He had been training the newbies all day and had discovered three new possible partners just seconds ago.

"Cool. Show them to the tents and they can train tomorrow. You've done enough today." He smiled.

"Okay, Tai! I'll be right back."

Tai watched his partner leave with the newbies.

 _What's wrong with me? I love my friends, but I can't seem to want to be with them. Agumon is right; I am hiding something from him._

Sighing, he sat down on the grass.

 _It's been happening for about four months. Off and on, I get these cold chills, as if something, someone, is watching me. I've heard this strange voice laughing at me when I sleep. I feel like I'm going crazy, but I know what I am hearing and seeing. Even the digiworld feels strange today. I have to focus on this game… but I can't help but feel sick to my stomach. It's why I haven't been eating a lot lately… nothing wants to stay down. And the episode I had during the picnic. That anger, where did it come from? That wasn't me. It was like I couldn't control it. I fuse had snapped and suddenly, I knew if I didn't leave I would do something… terrible… to my own sister._

He wanted to contact Gennai, but couldn't seem to reach him. Izzy had tried for days, but couldn't seem to get through. Not surprising, since the man was always disappearing whenever he wanted.

"Okay, Tai. I'm done. We should go so you can practice!"

"Actually, not today Agumon. I'm going to go home and rest. Coach says to always give your self a couple days break before the match."

"Is it so you load up on fuel?" asked the little dinosaur.

Tai laughed, rubbing his partners head affectionately.

"Basically, yes. And so I don't get injured the day before."

Kari-

It was the day of Tai's match and everyone had shown up to support him. She looked around the small section they took up. It was clear that he had the largest fanclub so far on his side. Even his parents had come to watch this one. She could see the team warming up. Tai was looking as serious as ever, his face masked with the face of a captain and leader. His team was composed of excellent players and she was confident that they would do well today.

"Wow, look at him go! Whooo, go Tai!" shouted Davis. He was always so amazed with Tai's natural ability to play. Tai looked up briefly and spied his friends. He smiled at Davis, but quickly looked back to him team.

"Oh, I hope they win! And I hope Tai gets picked by the scouts to play! He's got the best chance." exclaimed Mimi.

"Yeah, but I heard that the other team's number five is a nasty player. He's also gunning for the position. Tai better be careful." Said Izzy.

"I heard he broke a kids leg his last match. On purpose!" said Davis, causing Kari to gasp. "Oh, but I'm sure Tai will be fine." He tried to say.

"Oh good going, genius." Said TK.

A whistle rang out and the teams lined up to sing the anthem. After that was done, Tai and the other Captain shook hands. Number five of the other team smirked at him, crossing his arms. Tai didn't look phased and turned back to his team. And suddenly, the game had started.

Tai was his team's Central Forward, meaning he was responsible for the majority of scoring and their strongest scorer. Number five was the same position. For the first five minutes, Tai's team was obviously the stronger team as a whole.

Tai watched his team listen to each other and skillfully pass the ball. Their passing was flawless thanks to weeks of fine detail practicing. Tai caught a pass and ran down the field, out running every player trying to stop him. But number five, he knew would pose a problem. He was a big guy and fast. He had stopped Tai's attempt at a first goal within the first five minutes.

After the first half, Tai's team was leading with 1-0. Kari was on edge. She knew her brother was having a hard time with number five. The scouts looked impressed by both of their will and strength throughout the first half. The whistle rang out again and the game resumed.

Tai-

 _Shit_ , he thought. _This would be a close game._

He knew that their forward was good, but he had to be better. The other guy was getting tired. Thankfully, Tai's rigorous weeks of hard cardio training had done him good. He had three more chances at scoring. His midfielder was working on getting a pass to him and finally found one. Quickly, he shot to Tai. Catching it easily, he turned to run. But five knew their plan. Sliding towards to ball, he attempted to catch Tai's receiving ankle. With a quick step over the ball, he parried it with his left, catching it just on his heel and ran towards the goal.

The other teams defenders all ran at him, planning to trap him into passing the ball and losing it to their midfielder. Yelling for another player's help, Tai shot out to the right, catching a team member. In a flash, he had ran through the wall of defenders, and back into an ongoing pass back to him. Exhaling, he shot the ball straight towards the right corner of the goal. The goalie had no time to react.

"Yes! Go Tai!" he heard Davis yell.

 _We still have five minutes. Anything could happen, don't get excited._

He watched number five rise, huffing with anger.

 _Looks like he's up and ready to fucking kill me. Great._

He glanced at the scouts. They were all watching him with what he hoped was interest.

The other team set up to deliver their last play. Tai had caught the shot with his head, stealing it from the other teams midfielder. Letting it fall, he watched him team. Their midfielder was already running ahead, ready for the pass.

 _Okay, good. He's open for the pass. There's only two minutes left and we are up by three to zero. Focus, Tai, focus._

Suddenly, he saw a flash of red and before he could dodge, his shin was hit by something large and hard. He went down quickly, grabbing his leg in pain. A whistle blew and the game was paused. He saw his Coach run out to him through narrowed eyes.

"Penalty, Red Team, Number five!" yelled the referee, holding out a red card. "You're out for the rest of the game, son." He said harshly to the player. Smirking, he looked at Tai.

"Tai, I don't think anything's broken. Can you move it?" His coach asked. Touching his leg gently, Tai hissed in pain.

"I'm fine Coach, really. It doesn't feel broken, just a good bruise." Helping him up, they wobbled back to the bench. Tai looked up and noticed his parents worriedly looking at him. His friends had all stopped cheering and were booing the other team. He laughed to himself.

 _At least I can count on their sense of justice._

Kari-

Agumon had ran down to see Tai the second the game ended. The others had to wait until the team left the field to see him. Kari was worried. His leg didn't look broken, but it must have hurt terribly.

 _At least they still won though,_ she thought. She watched as the scouts walked over to her brother, all shaking his hand. They talked for a moment, Tai smiling and laughing with them. They looked excited to be telling him whatever they wanted and Kari had a good feeling he had been chosen.

After about ten minutes, they walked out together, saying their good byes.

"Oh, Tai, you did awesome!" she said, running to hug him. He was still limping a bit, but looked okay.

"Thanks, I'm just glad we won!"

"Well, you were the reason for that though!" said Yolei.

"Yeah, you scored all the points. Number five was a dirty player though." Said Davis.

"I'm just glad he didn't break your leg. Soccer is the number one sport for leg injuries." Said Joe.

"Look, guys, as awesome as it is to talk about this, can we do it over food? I'm starving." Said Gatomon.

"Yeah, I second that!" exclaimed Gomamon. The other digimon voiced their opinions too, all agreeing with the first two.

Tai-

 _Finally, peace and quiet._

Laying down on his bed, he sighed with relief. Everyone had finally gone home. He had stayed quiet during the meal and wanted to go to bed. Thankfully Agumon had sensed this and made excuses to end the party. His leg still throbbed, but the injury was worth the win. The scouts had promised to be in contact with him over the week about the recruitment process for the national team.

 _I finally made it. Soon, I'll be graduated and playing soccer for as long as I can. Traveling around and hopefully forgetting about what had happened back then._

He still had lingering feelings for Sora, but respected his friend too much to cause trouble. Playing soccer would keep his mind off of it and hopefully help him find someone new to love.

Starting to drift off to sleep, he lowered his eyelids slowly.

Tap…tap…tap…

Opening his eyes again, he turned his head to glance at the window. There was nothing there, but he swore there was a faint tapping. Agumon was asleep on his bed on the floor and there were no birds flying about. He shrugged and settled back into his covers this time, turning out the lamp beside his head.

Tap…tap…tap…

Now he was annoyed. Looking back at the window he waited. Suddenly, a black mass materialized in front of the glass. He gasped.

Agumon woke up just then, his whole body frozen with anticipation. He had heard Tai's gasp right before he felt a strange chill run through his body.

"Tai?" he said slowly. "That thing by the window… what-"

The window flew open and the black mass slithered in. It slid past Agumon and quickly reached Tai's bed. He yelled, but the mass had engulfed him too quickly for Agumon to even get up. It took only about a second, but Tai was gone. The mass had taken his and disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

First off, thank you to my reviewers! I'm really hoping this story becomes a hit! :DDD

Secondly, I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON, JUST MY VILIANS.

Chapter 3

Matt-

"Are you kidding me?" shouted Matt. "Disappeared? How? When?" He was talking on the phone with Izzy, who had been contacted by Agumon. It was crazy, something about Tai being swallowed like a piece of candy and vanishing out of thin air. But apparently, Agumon was in a complete state of panic.

"I don't know either Matt. It's a mystery. All I know is what I told you and that Agumon is calling everyone right now. We have to meet up!"

"Well, when and where?"

"I say the park where we had our last outing. Call Sora and let her know."

"Okay, bye Izzy." After phoning Sora and hearing her freak out in worry too, Matt hung up the phone and sighed.

"I wonder what is going on. First Patamon's suspicion and now this." Said Gabumon from the bed. He was perched, listening to the conversation and becoming very worried.

"I wonder if TK-" Suddenly, a boy burst through his door, carrying a frantic digimon.

"I told you guys! I knew something was wrong!" cried Patamon from TK's arms.

"Matt, what's going on? Kari was crying on the phone and Agumon couldn't be calmed either."

"I don't know, TK. Seems that the idiot went and got himself captured by something."

"You think it has to do with what Patamon was talking about the other night?"

"Maybe. But we won't know until we figure this out together. We have to go to the park now, but first, let's meet Sora."

Kari-

 _I can't believe this! He just disappeared!_

Thankfully, she had stopped crying for a bit to calm down. It wouldn't do any good for both her and Agumon to be acting crazy. Gatomon had reasoned with her, keeping her cool just like she always did.

"He might have just been summoned somewhere by Gennai, Kari."

"But why would he summon him like that? He usually always calls us first!"

"Well, we haven't spoken to Gennai in quite a while. It could be that he really needed Tai for something."

Kari had taken her suggestion and went with it. Better to suspect something positive, then everything negative. But she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The way Agumon described the scene and the kidnapper, it did not seem friendly.

They had arrived just as everyone else had, Davis making up the last. He and Veemon huffed their hellos, asking the inevitable.

"What the hell is going on?"

"That's what we all would like to know. Why, out of the blue, was Tai kidnapped?" asked Joe.

"I'm trying to set up a connection with Gennai- oh, prodigious! My newest connection system works." They watched his laptop as a loading screen popped up. "In three, two…" Suddenly, the screen turned white, and Gennai flashed a smile at them.

"Why hello children." They all gave their greetings, happy to finally get word from the old man.

"Gennai, Tai's been kidnapped."

"Ah yes, I knew something was bound to happen." He scratched his chin, oblivious to the confused digidestined.

"Um, mind telling us what's up?" asked Matt. He was used to Gennai's constant forgetfulness but this was not the time.

"Well, it seems there has been a… rift in the system, so to speak."

"Does it have anything to do with what Patamon told us the other day? Feeling a disconnection for a split second from the digiworld?" asked TK.

"Wait, what? What disconnection? I wasn't told anything!" exclaimed Davis, looking angrily at Veemon.

"Yeah me neither. What's up, Biyomon?" said Sora, her hands on her hips. Biyomon cringed under her gaze, looking at her partner apologetically.

"I'm sorry Sora. I meant to tell you about it but I forgot with everything that happened and all." She tried to explain.

"Guys, you should have let us know! Especially now that Tai is gone!" said Joe. Agumon looked down, holding back his tears. He felt awful and Kari sensed his overwhelming sorrow.

"Oh, I'm so sorry everyone. This is my fault! I couldn't even protect him for a second." Kari bent down, putting her arm around the little dinosaur.

"It's okay Agumon. I'm sure you did the best you could. The thing surprised you, no need to beat yourself up about it."

"Yeah, Tai is strong. I'm sure he's just fine, you'll see." Added Mimi, putting her head on his head. Everyone was silent for a second, taking in the seriousness of the situation. They wanted to believe Mimi's kind words… but something was very wrong in the digital world.

"Children, there is no time to burry yourselves with grief. Tai is still alive. But, we need to rescue him as fast as possible." Intruded Gennai gently.

"Why? What's really happening?" asked Davis.

"Well, several days ago, there was a noticeable black seam running along the sky. It looked as if it was a tear. What caused it, we have no idea. I had Piximon investigate but by the time he had reached the top of the mountain, it was gone. While that happened, the connection from the digital world to here was halted. However, there have been several small attacks on the connections of the gates. It is like someone is experimenting with the connections, seeing which parts are stronger. The rift was new though. I have never seen something like that before."

"So, someone is trying to hack into the system? Easy, can't we flush them out? We have taken care of bad guys like this before." Said Izzy.

"But that's the thing: this is not like anything you have encountered before. This isn't like your other battles, your other villains. Last night, when Tai was presumably kidnapped, I received a mysterious message."

"From who? Or what?" asked Kari.

"Well, I don't know. That's the problem. It came out of nowhere, right in front of me while I was sitting and reading. It was a black figure, its face masked except for the lower half. It looked human, but with pointed teeth. It told me something and then vanished. It said, "Take caution upon the darkest hour. For I am death and will kill you all." As you can tell, it was quite creepy."

"Kill? As in all the digimon?"

"I presume so. But, now that Tai is gone, I have a bad feeling he means humanity, or at least you digidestined."

"Oh my gosh, this sounds like a cheap horror movie." Said Yolei. "Can't we just defeat him with our champions?"

"If it were that easy, he wouldn't have taken Tai, now would he have?" said TK.

"That is true. Tai plays some sort of role in this. And I hate to find out." Gennai said, gravely.

Izzy—

It was a unanimous decision to save Tai. They all agreed to immediately inform their parents, grab what they needed and meet back in thirty minutes. Gennai and Izzy would help open a gate.

 _This is nuts. I can't believe we have to fight another bad guy. This one sounds nasty too._

Placing his computer in his backpack, he sighed. Tentomon flew over, sitting on the floor next to him.

"What's wrong Izzy?" he asked.

"It's this whole mess we're in again. We've fought all these enemies and still another pops up. And this one is apparently nothing we have ever seen before and wants to kill us all."

"Yeah, it sounds like we have our work cut out for us this time."

"It's not just that. Tai's gone. When Tai is gone, it's like we all are on edge and fragile. And now that he could be in mortal danger thanks to this strange freak, it's scary." Tentomon stared at his partner. He had seen Izzy distraught but never in such a state of despair.

"I know Tai is your best friend and you want to save him. But you can't get so down. He wouldn't want you to!" Izzy smiled, thinking how right that statement really was.

"Yeah, I know. Guess I'm just worried, huh."

"Who isn't? Come on, let's hurry and pack and get back to the park."

Matt-

 _Fuck this. Stupid Tai, having to go and get himself kidnapped._

Stuffing the remaining food in his bag, Matt angrily ground his teeth. He was mad for sure, but not just because Tai was kidnapped. Matt was done with fighting these creatures. He was happy that he and Gabumon had remained so close, but it was tiring. All this fighting was making him go crazy.

"Matt, you should probably put the cans in first, so you don't squish the rest of the food." Said Gabumon quietly. Matt looked in his bag and noticed the crumbled cracker packets.

"Shit, you're right. Guess I wasn't paying attention." He said.

"Matt, are you scared?"

He didn't answer for a second.

 _Maybe I am. Maybe I'm scared because this guy seems to be something out of a nightmare. And he might kill Tai at any second._

"Yeah, I guess I am. Jeez, Gabumon, you see right through me, huh?"

"Well, of course I do! You're my partner."

"I just can't seem to shake this feeling of… dread, I guess is the best way to describe it. I know Tai and I have drifted apart over the last few years but I can't imagine anything happening to him."

"I understand. You guys are good friends and no matter what, you want to protect each other."

Tai-

It was dark, like the usual kidnappers hide out. And it smelt lie soil.

 _Guess I must be under ground._

He had woken up moments ago, his eyes feeling heavy and damp. He was lying on his back on a hard ground, his forehead dripping with perspiration. Wherever he was, it was muggy and it was quiet. As he sat up, he felt around his body for any injuries.

 _Seems whatever that thing was let me off easy for now._

Looking around his surroundings, he could make out bars and a room outside of them. The only light was coming from somewhere above the cell, shining down solely on a chair. It was positioned right in front of where Tai was laying.

Suddenly, his whole body lit up with chills, sending him into a slight state of panic. A sound like a door opening was heard off to his left, past the bars. A black, tall figure slowly walked in and took a seat upon the one chair. And he just sat.

Tai watched him, deciding not to move until he had to. The figure did the same. Tai could see that half his face was covered, up past his nose. The rest of him that was exposed was pale and pointed.

And then it smiled.

Holding back a gasp, Tai looked at his mouth in fear. All his teeth were pointed.

"So, you're the bearer of courage." The thing said, in a hissing, slithery voice.

"Yes. Who are you? Why did you kidnap me?" Tai asked, making sure to sound more confident than he felt.

"I am death itself." The creature stood, and walked closer to the bars. Tai backed up, hitting the cave wall. The thing went straight though the bars, its body morphing through the crack like jello.

 _What the hell? What is this thing?_

"You sure are an interesting one. So full of confidence and spirit. I have been watching you for some time."

"So, you were the stalker I felt these past months." Tai growled.

"Yesss, my dear boy. I have been curious as to what a bearer of courage should be like. I was impressed. Seems that you are a strong leader. A bit rash, but that can be fixed."

"Fixed?"

"Oh, yes. I plan to make you my number one second- in- command. You're crest is one of the strongest, as well as your digimon."

"No, I thought Kari and TK-"

"They have rear crests, yes. But, they do not have the same spirit, nor power themselves to push past their limits. You, though. You are the one!" The creature was excited now, only a few steps away from Tai.

"Listen, I don't know why you need me, but I'm not helping you!"

"Oh really?" The creature's voice dropped, taking on a deeper, scarier tone. He slowly lifted his hood, revealing the rest of his pale face. Tai gasped aloud this time. It was almost human, save for the nasty red color of its eyes. The creature through back its black its head, black hair cascading down past its shoulders.

"You can try to run, but I have already been inside your head, boy. I will crush your spirit in and instant and butcher your little friends should you disobey me. I am death, Taichi. And don't you forget it."

 **Notes—**

 **So I have created Villian #1. More on him through the next few chapters. And yes, I know that the story is a bit choppy, but I hate writing fluff and I want to get straight to point with these chapters. It'll be maybe a few days until I can update, maybe even sometime this weekend. But thank you for the reviews you guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

NOPE, I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON, JUST SCYTHEMON AND ALL VILIANS THAT I CREATE.

 **Well everyone. I know this answers literally, maybe two questions from all these previous chapters BUT it is a definite development for poor Tai.**

 **I appreciate ALL reviews!**

Kari-

 _Looks like everyone is here._

It had only taken her ten minutes to pack her things. She was frantic and hoping that everyone else would be early to meet as well. Thankfully, everyone seemed to have the same idea. Tai's life was in danger, more danger than ever this time.

"Okay, so I'm contacting Gennai to see if he can get a gate opened for us. In the meantime, has anyone figured out anything on Tai? He still has his digivice, so I've been trying to connect to him… but it seems as though his signal has been cut off." Asked Izzy. He was typing furiously on his laptop while anxiously tapping his foot on the ground.

Everyone shook their heads. There was nothing to go on. Tai literally vanished without a trace.

"Well, if he at least has it, does this mean that we will see his signal once we go to the digiworld?" asked Mimi.

"Yeah! I bet it's just because we are here, not there!" said Palomon.

"I hope so, but with the looks of this new bad guy, I would say he thought of that."

"Then how are even going to find Tai?" asked Davis, exasperated. He understood the severity of the situation. But, he also understood how bad this rescue mission really was. They were going off only one lead: hope.

"I don't know Davis. I just know we have to find him… or else." Said Izzy, tired.

They stayed silent for a moment, waiting from some sort of sign from their old friend. It took a few minutes, but finally, the computer beeped with a message. Izzy opened it, read through it quickly and nodded.

"Okay, it's good. He's going to open it right now. Everyone hold each other." Suddenly, the computer flashed and they all heard their friends voice.

"Portal, open!"

A flash of light and a burst of wind later, and the digidestined were falling towards the ground. As usual, everyone fell in a piled heap, most of the digimon landing perfectly on their feet.

"Hm, that's new." Mumbled Izzy. "He usually doesn't say that to open a gate."

"What does it matter? Let's go." Said Matt. "His house is just up ahead. He sure has good aim."

Everyone helped each other up, grumbling along the way. Thankfully, the walk really was short and within minutes they had arrived at his front door. Knocking heavily on the wood, Matt stepped back and waited. The door opened slowly by itself and a voice inside yelled at them to come in.

"Hey, that sounded like Piximon!" said Kari.

"Oh good, we haven't seen the little fluff ball in ages!" said Mimi.

"I wonder if he found out anything new." Said Joe.

 _Anything… please…_ Kari thought.

They walked further along the hall, only to be greeted by Piximon a second later.

"Well hello there kids! It's been awhile hasn't it?" Piximon smiled, trying to keep the situation upbeat. They wouldn't like the news he and Gennai had for them at all. He glanced quickly at Kari. She looked pale, fragile and on the brink of melting down.

"Hey, Piximon. How have you been?" she asked. Her smile did not come close to reaching her eyes, but he appreciated her gesture nonetheless.

"Oh, you know here and there, training and such. Come, come. Gennai has some news for you all." He walked them quickly down the hallway, coming into a big, sunny room. Gennai was sitting in the middle, looking closely into a screen that was propped against the floor.

"Well, hello children. Sit, sit. I have some things to discuss." Kari's heart dropped. He wasn't smiling and he didn't look up to address them. Suddenly, she couldn't hold back anymore. She started crying, lightly so she didn't cause a huge scene. TK noticed and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Let's sit down." She nodded, not wanting to look anyone in the face. But, everyone understood. Some wanted to cry themselves once the noticed the same attitude from Gennai. Obviously, they would not be receiving good news.

"Well, I'm not going to sugar coat it kids." He started. "Tai is in big, big trouble. It seems this 'death' character is worse than I thought. I did some research on him. It seems he is not a human… nor a digimon."

"Well, than what is he?" asked Sora, in panic.

"According to my sources, he might be some sort of humanoid- digimon… demon." Everyone started talking at once.

"A demon has Tai!"

"Holy shit, what are we going to do? We never fought a demon before."

"Are there more of him? What does he want with Tai?"

"Silence!" Gennai screamed. "Calm down for a moment and let me explain."

They quieted, waiting for their friend to continue.

"I don't know very much, just that detail. That is a guess however. I was in touch with other digidestined around the world. No one has seen him but many felt the rift themselves. I received a message that told me that last night."

"From who?" Izzy questioned.

"That I also don't know. It was not signed when I read it nor could I trace its origins. For now, I will trust it is someone trying to help us and is being truthful."

"Anything else? Anything that will actually help us help Tai?" asked Kari. She was still crying, but the tears were slowing. Now, they were being replaced by silent fear.

"Only one thing. I know that he is in the Digiworld… but on a continent that you have never explored. That will be the hard part. It's on a continent that we avoid here. It's full of the worst sort of digimon. Tai's digivice is very faint and I could only get a second of a signal, but it was enough to know that he was there."

"What's it called?" she asked.

"Thanatos."

"Gennai… that means 'death' in Greek" said Izzy. Kari stopped breathing.

"I know. Children, this will be very dangerous. This continent is what the digiworld was made to protect humans against. If any of these creatures escaped to the real world… everything would be destroyed."

"Can we even defeat any of these creatures?" asked Patamon.

"If you work together, yes. And when I upgrade a feature of your digivices."

"Upgrade? To what?"

"Well, when I found out where he was, I knew that you all would need more juice to defeat this enemy. So, I came up with a feature. It's a type of personal armor. Each of you emits a certain sort of data, which corresponds with your crest and digivolves your Digimon. However, you know that. But, what you don't know because I have not told you, is that you can manipulate your Digimons transformations."

"So… we can… add stuff to them?" asked Izzy.

"Sort of, Izzy. It's more like, whatever is within you, changes them. Of course, for now you need a certain button on your digivice to make that happen."

"Why did you not tell us this before?" asked Joe. "Don't you think we could have used this while we were running around defeating the Dark Masters?"

"I had no idea about this feature until much later after the battle. It showed up in my information after I did some research."

"So, let's say for example, I got the upgrade. Do you know what would happen to Tentomon when he digivolved? Like, what would be added?"

"No. This depends on you and him. I have no control over what is added, but I do know it's only one feature. But, that feature could be the difference between life and death right now."

"So, now we are back to day one when we had no idea how to digivolve our rookies." Grumbled Matt.

"Ah, but look on the bright side; these features will help you rescue Tai." Gennai replied, look sternly at Matt. "You have been forced to grow through these battles. This one will be like the same. Now, let me upgrade your digivices and you can be on your way." Handing over their digivices, Agumon hesitated to give him Tai's. He was shaking slightly, his claws protectively grasping the little square.

"Agumon, I promise, you will find him alive. I will not break the digivice. I am just upgrading it." Gennai said gently. Agumon took one last look at the little blinking lifeline and gave it up. It took only a few minutes of hooking up each individual digivice and downloading a simple code.

"Now, I know that this little button here triggers it until your digimon can digivolve with it on their own." Explained Gennai, pointing to a small round button on the right side of the digivice.

"God luck, children. I will send a friend to come pick you up to make the trip there a bit easier." They all nodded and thanked their friend. After a long morning, they were happy to finally be on their way. Once outside the house, they walked back down to the beach. Waiting for them was a familiar face.

"Oh my gosh, it's another Whamon!" shouted Mimi.

"No way!" smiled Sora. "Looks like this trip won't be so bad after all." They ran down to their friend. He was waiting right by the beach.

"Well, hello digidestined."

"Whamon, how did you… come back?" asked Kari. She did not know Whamon as well as the others, but knew about him from Tai.

"I am not the Whamon you children encountered during your previous time here. There are a few of use surrounding this area. But, the one who passed was one of my best friends. I am happy he did not die in vain."

"Ah, so there are more of you? I wonder if there are more of other digimon we have encountered… all the ones that sacrificed themselves for us back then." Izzy said, mostly to himself.

"Well, maybe. But that isn't what we should focus on right now." said Tentomon. "Whamon, we need a ride."

"Yes, Gennai called me over to help. It'll only take a couple of days, children. Hurry, hop on." After climbing onto the big whale, they set off, getting as comfortable as they could on his head. Agumon was leaning against Kari, his eyes glazed over. She felt so bad for him; his energy was drained from being so far from Tai for so long. And with his digivice still not reacting, he was worried. She sighed, putting her arm around him.

"I'm sure he is fine. Maybe a bit bruised up, but he must be putting up a good fight." She said quietly. He nodded, but stayed quiet.

Tai-

It had been maybe a day… maybe two… maybe a week. Tai had lost track of time completely while he was imprisoned. The creature came every few hours; sometimes, he would sit and just stare at Tai. Other times he came with food and water. But he never spoke. Just stared. Smiling.

Tai shivered in the damp space. He wanted to see the sun and run across a field playing soccer. He felt like he was in a grave yard.

 _Fitting, since apparently this guy is 'death' itself_ , he thought. _He hasn't told me his name though or what he was. Maybe I'll learn today._

A clicking noise sounded across the room and the creature glided over. He came with food and water, placing it slowly down into the cell through the narrow hole. Tai did not touch it, remaining sitting against the wall. The creature sat down in his usual chair, staring at Tai.

"Eat."

"Don't want to."

"I said to."

"And? What do you think I am, your bitch?"

The creature stayed quiet. Slowly taking off his hood, he smiled.

"I really like you courage. No one has gotten away with talking to me like that. I think it is because I feel such a strong light from you. You will do well as my subordinate soon."

"What is your name? And why do you want me so badly?" Tai stood up, wiping off his shorts. "You haven't beat me up or tortured me. What do you want?"

"I do not want to hurt you, my boy. I want you in pristine shape before the hour."

"What hour?" he asked. The creature did not reply, just stared with his dark eyes. "Fine. Don't tell me. But, what is your name? You could at least tell me that." He grumbled.

"My name… is Scythemon."

"So…you are a digimon?"

"Partially." The creature stood up, making his move to leave. "My other minions will be in shortly."

"Wait, what do you mean!" shouted Tai, as Scythemon walked away. "What other part are you, human? Wait!" He heard the door click shut and slammed his back into the wall.

 _Dammit. I don't know anything about where I am or what is going on._

The door opened again and Tai sprang back up from the wall.

"Hey, why-" he stopped. Three figures walked in this time, each covered in a cloak. He watched as one of them opened the gate. As they walked in, he backed up against the wall, his heart starting to race.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Shut up kid. This won't hurt… that much." One figure said, as they laughed. Suddenly, Tai felt a horrible pain in his temple and he grasped his head as he fell down. He screamed in pain, unaware of the needle that carried a container of black liquid being pointed towards his neck. He felt it pinch through his skin and tried to swipe it away. The second creature grabbed his chest and threw him against the wall. The liquid container emptied and Tai's headache subsided.

"What- what did you do?" he asked, shakily. The creatures still had him pinned the wall and one was now rolling back his sleeves to reveal his forearm. After using a damp cloth to wipe the area, he applied a light gel.

"We gave you your first dose of black blood from the master." Tai's eyes widened. He didn't have time to respond, for Scythemon was back in the room. Once inside the cell, he grabbed Tai's forearm gently and flicked his hand at the creature previously grasping it.

"Move, swine." He gazed at Tai's arm, poking at the middle of his forearm, as if testing something. "Yes, plenty of muscle to handle this."

"What have you done to me?" he asked weakly. His head had a dull ache but nothing like the explosion from earlier. His whole body was hot and he felt feverish.

"Ah, your body seems to be handling the blood quite nicely. Now, you just need a grit your teeth and bare this quick pain." Tai saw only his hand before it slammed down on the meat of his arm. His skin felt branded and he cried out. In the blink of an eye, Tai's mouth was forced close, silencing his cries. The hand was not just branding his arm, it felt as though it was literally carving a pattern into his skin with hot metal. After a few more painful seconds, Scythemon released his arm, watching him lay back in defeat and exhaustion.

"You truly are the right choice, courage. Many could not handle such an intense branding."

"What- what-" Tai struggled for words. Between the fire flowing through his body and his now numb arm, he felt drained to the core. Just sitting there was taking his final breaths before black took over.

"I branded you. You are now connected to me through our data. Of course, it will be about a week before I can fully connect you to me." Scythemon glided towards the door, his goons following in his wake. He turned, looking at Tai one last time. He had become so fond of the boy that he could not bear to lose his best chance at domination. He needed Tai.

It took him a couple of minutes, but, after his captors left, Tai finally could move his body to lay down on his back. He stared up at the ceiling, his focus shifting in and out of darkness.

 _Please, guys… hurry up. I have a bad feeling… this is going… to get worse._


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry this took a while, finals were this week so I've been in a big bubble of stress! Anyways, here ya go!

Now, I know that this chapter answers probably two questions and you might be thinking, whoa, she left out some crucial stuff… yes, I did. Some you won't find out for a few chapters. Some you might be thinking that this is developing very rapidly and I'm leaving no room for mystery! Once again, yes it is BUT there are secrets upon secrets upon lies and confusion that is still present and will remain there for some time. Now, read and enjoy. And review… pleaseee!

I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON. JUST MY VILLIANS.

Kari- **6 days since Tai's kidnapping. Day 2 of their travel.**

"It's been almost two days. Whamon, when are we going to arrive at Thanatos?" Kari asked, tired and a bit grumpily. She had had her fill of the sea air and needed to be on land soon. Everyone had been quiet for the last few hours, all thinking their own thoughts. Only the digimon- save for a still distraught Agumon- were talkative. Gomamon had entertained all of them with his swimming tricks, laughing and calling his fish friends to help.

"In about ten minutes, my dear child." He replied. "Now, when you get there, I will drop you off at a discrete shore, one that many digimon do not use or know of. You must immediately seek shelter and then figure out a plan."

"Or our new features." Said Izzy. "One of us might have one that helps to find Tai."

"And if we don't? Guys, how the hell are we going to find him on this island?" asked Davis.

"We can figure that out once we reach shelter."

Whamon grumbled his approval and swam faster.

"We should also come up with an emergency plan." Said Joe. "Whamon, will you stay here and wait for us?"

"I will. I will swim a bit further away, to not arouse suspicion. But, if you need me, send Gomamon to swim to me. I will come as fast as I can."

"Thank you, really. You don't have to do all of this for us." Said Sora.

"I want this new digimon destroyed as much as you children do. Save Tai and make it back alive." He slowed down, approaching a shoreline. Kari gasped.

The scene was grim and arid, like a beach straight from the deepest depths of hell. It sent shivers up her spine. The sand was dark, almost gray, along with the surrounding ten feet of water. There was a forest of tall, pointed trees, but the leaves were black. She could spot a couple of ashen mountains and what looked like a volcano. The sky above was cloudy, emitting small bolts of lightning.

"It looks horrible." Whispered Mimi beside her. All of the digidestined grabbed their digimon and held them close. Kari grabbed Agumon as well, but he was the only one of the group who was not trembling even the slightest.

"Tai is here. I can feel it. And I will destroy whatever has him." He growled.

Tai—

He felt like shit. His whole body felt as though it was being roasted over a fire, pig style. He was lying on the floor, unmoving. Technically, he was too afraid to move. After three times each day for two straight days of injections of the black blood and several other brandings, Tai was giving up on his friends finding him. How could they? He didn't have his digivice and there was no trace to wherever the hell he was. Underground still? In a cave? He stopped thinking about it and groaned aloud.

"My head hurts too. Dammit." He closed his eyes, tightly, fighting off a good wave of nausea. He heard the click of the door and cursed under his breath. Scythemon glided over, a syringe in one pale hand and a glass of water in another. He opened the cage door and bent down to Tai.

"I need you to sit up. This is the last injection." Tai refused to move and shut his eyes.

"Just go away."

Scythemon smiled.

"Oh, I cannot. You need this last injection for everything to work or you will never get better." Standing up, Scythemon set down the glass on the chair and struck out his hand at Tai. In an instant, Tai felt himself being dragged up into a weak stand and sat down again in another chair.

"Seriously, you could at least say please." He grumbled. Scythemon stayed silent and quickly pulled on Tai's forearm. He wished he had the strength to fight him off, but Tai was too weak and drained. He felt the needle and waited for the incoming fury of fire. However, a new feeling washed over him, almost making him cry in relief. It felt like water sloshing over his entire body. He felt cool and rested, even happy.

"What happened?" He looked at Scythemon, hesistant.

"Your body is now fully accepting of my blood and you have inherited a good amount of my powers."

"Powers?"

"Yes, wonderful powers my boy. Powers of death. Now, one last branding and you will be complete." Tai cringed as his hand fell down on the last remaining space on his right forearm, but, like before, he felt nothing. No pain, no heat. The brand glowed with a faint dark blue light for a split second, then become the faint white mark of the rest of them.

"What does any of these mean? Why did you do this?" Tai asked. Scythemon looked at him and stood up to leave. "Wait! Please… tell me. I need to know something about what is happening." Tai almost pleaded. He hated being in the dark about whatever was happening around him.

"I gave you 90 percent of my powers. I did this through the black blood. The brands are the types of powers and keep them locked within you. Each brand means something."

"But, how does this work? You could at least tell me how to use this crap you put in me!"

"Do not worry. I will explain everything in a few days. You will learn to use these powers with me, for you are now one of us- a Black Soul. And, my new Death Apprentice."

Sora-

"Well, we should find a cave now I guess." Sora said, looking around the group. Everyone looked tense, the darkened landscape and heavy atmosphere weighing down on them.

"But which way?" asked Kari. She was clinging to TK, who looked just as nervous as her.

"My computer says that if we go North, we should find a small clearing within the woods. There might be a good place to stop and think." Said Izzy.

"Izzy, is right. I feel Tai this way." Agumon pointed to the right, which was North according to Izzy.

"Then, let's go everyone." Said Sora, grabbing Biyomon's wing tightly. They walked along the beach, trying to find a breaking point in the forest before they headed in. Izzy followed his laptop faithfully, looking up every few feet to make sure he wouldn't trip over anything. It wasn't long however, before the beach started to live up to its hellish appearance. A loud growl sounded over the stark silence and everyone turned towards the source. It was coming from the water; a common source of the digi destined's usual enemies.

"Guys… I think we should stop looking for an opening in the forest and go ahead to create our own." Said Davis.

"Um, I don't think we 'should', I think we have to." Said TK.

"What happened to this being a 'discrete' forest?" grumbled Matt. "Looks pretty popular to me."

As he replied, the group watched the head of a vicious looking digimon slowly rise from the water. The face appeared to be that of a dark blue dragon, but the teeth were too big for its mouth. They ended past the lips of the digimon, giving its red eyes and slim face an even more horrific appearance. The body of the digimon had the resemblance of a snake, but the protrusion of lean arms and spikes cascading down its back were not anything they had ever seen before. It slowed to a stop, and, after tossing its head back, shot a huge, flaming ball of blue fire right towards them.

"Split up!" shouted Matt, pulling TK and Kari with him to the side. The blue ball hit the sand, immediately burning a wide gap through the ground.

"What is that thing?" asked Yolei.

"That is DarkDragomon; absolutely vicious and evil. He usually only comes out at night unless he is extremely angry." Replied Tentomon. "Izzy, we have to get out of here and fast."

"Right on it! Let's just head towards the tree now!" Running towards the forest, they screamed and dodged the fire balls parading down upon them. Suddenly, there was a shriek of pain and Mimi fell to the ground.

"Oh no, Mimi!" shouted Joe. He turned to run towards her, but sprang quickly to the right as a ball came flying at him. "Help her, Gomamon!"

"I'm coming, Mimi!" shouted Palmon.

"Help them, Biyomon!"

"Right!" yelled Gomamon and Biyomon, immediately running to her aid.

GOMAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…. IKKAKUMON

BIYOMON DIGIVOVE TO….. BIRDRAMON

"Everyone else, get in the trees!" shouted Matt. Joe and Izzy grabbed Mimi, hoisting her up behind them and running back as quickly as they could. After taking refugee within the first few feet of the trees, they stopped to watch the battle.

Birdramon had flown above DarkDragomon's head and circled around to distract his attention from Ikkakumon. DarkDragomon released fire after fire, coming close to knocking Birdramon out of the air.

"Birdramon!" Sora yelled, her hand clutching her digivice. The dragon roared and instantly swung its arms up to grab Birdramon. She dived past his hands, quickly covering the distance she wanted to his face.

"METEOR WING!."

The hit collided directly with his face. However, it was like nothing had even happened. He absorbed the hit and instead of falling, swallowed her fire, launching it right back at her with ease. She cried out as the new and more powerful fireball clipped her right wing. Ikkakumon advanced towards the dragon's middle, using the distraction to make his move.

"HARPOON TORPEDO!"

The horn flew towards its target, but not quick enough. The dragon dodged it, knocking Birdramon into the water below with his failing arm.

"BIRDRAMON!"

Ikkakumon growled and readied to launch another attack. Suddenly, what looked like a steel arrowhead shot out of the water, aimed straight towards him.

"Look out, Ikkakumon! His tail is a weapon too!" yelled Tentomon.

"Alright, that's enough, let's show him what we got Veemon!"

"Right, Davish!"

VEEMON DIGIVOLVE TOO…. FLAMEDRAMON

He sprang towards the water and with a swipe of his claws, batted the tail away from Ikkakumon.

"KNUCKLE FIRE!" He aimed towards the same spot as Ikkakumon had. The attack connected this time, sending the dragon flying backwards.

"Alright, Flamedramon!" Davis yelled.

"Ikkakumon, hit him there again!" yelled Izzy. "His scales are weak there! Tentomon," he looked at his partner, 'go and electrocute him."

"Ah, you read my mind, Izzy. An electric shock should stop his fire from boiling up."

TENTOMON DIGIVOLVE TO…KABUTERIMON

He flew over to where Flamedramon and Ikkakumon's side, and, with a quick nod to both of them, headed towards the dragons head.

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!" The dragon growled in rage and pain, his fireball catching in his throat. Flamedramon and Ikkakumon took the opportunity to hit him with all they had, watching with awe as the scales started to faze and weaken.

"There you guys go! Keep doing that!" shouted Joe.

"Alright, it's up to one last big attack and I think we can at least get him off our—"

Before Izzy could finish his thought, DarkDragomon growled one last time and turned around to retreat. They watched as the big, once scary dragon disappeared beneath the dark waves.

Gennai-

He finally received word Whamon that the children had made it to their destination. Part of him was relieved, but, the other part was anxious. They had faced many evil foes before, but this was an entirely new set of evil they were dealing with. Just the digimon alone on that island would be hard to beat… and finding Tai. He shuddered to think about what Scythemon had planned.

"Gennai, sir, oh you won't believe it, no you won't!" yelled an excited Piximon. Flying into the tea room, he stopped just short of Gennais face. "They defeated one already!"

"Wait, what? Please, back away from my face. You are much too close." He said, pushing the little fluff ball back, gently.

"Sorry, sorry. The children came into contact with DarkDragomon and defeated him!"

"You mean, the DarkDragomon? They defeated him? As in, he's just a bunch of particles of data now?" he asked, amazed.

"Well, not exactly. But he ran away!"

"Although this is good news that they are all safe and sound, this is also terrible news for their future battles. If they could not actually destroy him, who knows what will happen with enemies even more powerful than him. Not all of them will retreat." Gennai sighed. "This will be a tough mission… and I just hope they will all be okay."

Kari-

"Okay, let's have a look at you." Said Joe, gently. He was in the process of examining Mimi. They had walked into the forest further and after about an hour, finally came across the clearing. It had a small pond and even a pretty decent upper ground cave, made from a large, black rock. After careful analysis, Tentomon and Izzy declared the water safe enough to drink.

"It doesn't hurt all that bad- OW!" she cried. He leg had been burned by the fire ball. So far, it was only a minor burn, but from the light, bright red of the skin, Joe knew it would hurt nonetheless. He rummaged around his bag for any sort of burn cream.

"Ah, found it! Now, we will have to put this on continuously for the rest of the day and probably the night. It will hurt like hell if you don't. And we can wrap it so you don't scrape it on anything." She nodded, wiping away the few tears that had fallen.

"I'm sorry everyone; now I'll slow us down."

"Oh no, Mimi. You aren't going to do that at all. If anything, the thickness of the forest will slow us down. Just get better, okay?" said Sora, putting her hand on the girl's small shoulder.

"Yeah, she's right. This isn't you fault Mimi." Smiled Palmon. Mimi smiled at her, giving her a quick hug.

"Alright everyone, I think I know what we should do." Said Izzy. The entire group filed in around him, making a semi- circle in front of him like a classroom. "It seems that this island is basically the island of a huge volcano. There are a couple of mountains on each side, but from what it looks like, no sort of places to hide inside of them. The map I have says that we are almost two days hike from the center."

"But what is in between us and that volcano?" asked Matt.

"Well, given the topography of the island and from what I'm getting on my seismograph readings, just a large clearing, probably with heat pockets and a pretty rocky terrain. I sent Tentomon up to look since he just ate and digivolved back. He should be here in a second."

On cue, the red beetle flew down towards the group, carrying what appeared to be an assortment of exotic, dark colored fruits. He set them down for the digimon and claimed a blood red melon.

"It seems that although this island is dark and scary, it produces the same foods we've had on all the islands… just darker colors."

"Well, at least we know that we won't go hungry. But, other than that, what did you see?"

"I only went about fifty feet away, but I flew up higher beforehand. I saw the middle volcano and the mountains. It seems we have a large clearing and a rocky path to go through."

"Oh good, then my calcualtions were correct."

"That's nice and all but what about any digimon?" asked Ken. "If we have to face something stronger than DarkDragomon anytime soon, we might be in trouble."

"Aw, stop being a downer! We can take'em!" Davis exclaimed.

"I don't know if we actually can. Think about it, DarkDragonmon only retreated. We didn't actually kill him." Replied Cody, who had been silent for a long time. Davis stared at him and shrugged.

"Well, yeah but we can't give up just because of one stupid lizard."

"What a Tai sort of thing to say." Said Yolei. The others chuckled and fell silent. Agumon and Kari were the only ones to stay silent. Agumon had remained quiet throughout the previous battle and the ride to the island. It seemed as though the poor digimon was making himself weak with worry. He had taken a bite of the fruit, but left it mostly untouched. Kari, on the other hand, was two seconds away from crying her brains out. She had been momentarily distracted by the battle and Mimi's injury. Now, the feelings of dread crept back into her thoughts.

"We have to find him." Said Matt, glancing at Kari and Agumon.

"We will find him… it just will take a second to figure it out." Said Izzy.

"But what if he doesn't have a second…" Kari said quietly. The others looked at her too, taking in the gravity of her words.

"He has to have a second." Sora replied. "He's Tai. He might even have found a way out and is looking for us right now!"

"Please, don't give up hope. He has to be okay. We have to believe in our abilities and our strength to find him everyone." Said Ken.

"He is right. I will break my computer from overuse if I have to, but we will find him,' Davis said, standing up and addressing the group with confidence, 'And when we do, we will show Scythemon why he should never have picked a fight with the digidestined."


	6. Chapter 6

Tai- Day 7 since Tai's kidnapping

"Jeezus, it's been forever since I've seen any real light. This sucks." Tai sighed. He had only been captive for probably a short amount of time, but it felt like years. His body felt oddly warm, despite the damp, chilly air. His brands were throbbing slowly, pulsating every few seconds with a light blue sheen. But nothing compared to this new blood flowing through him. His body felt like it had become stronger, although his last real meal was a while ago. Scythemon had never explained the side effects, but Tai assumed super strength could be one of them. He cringed as the brands pulsated.

He wondered about Kari a lot, and Agumon. His parents were probably beyond worrying, on the verge of tearing down the digitial world themselves. His sister had to be trying to find him. His friends would never let him be kidnapped and not try to save them.

"They're taking their sweet time though." He muttered. Suddenly, he heard that familiar click of the door, and sighed again. The creatures walked in, a small plate of food in hand. Tai eyed the plate as it slide through the opening, watching wearily as they wordlessly walked back out. There was a small portion of some sort of meat, maybe three bites of bread and some yellow liquid. He blanched at the smell and dutifully picked at the bread and meat. The water was the only part of the meal he enjoyed. Knowing that Scythemon was keeping him just healthy enough to live, but weak to keep him at bay, suddenly aroused his anger.

Then it happened.

It was quick, painless. His vision turned black and he felt like he was falling backwards. The black blood within his veins roared through his limbs, filling every part of his body with fire. And he saw his reflection in an unrealistically floating mirror. His hair was black, still as bushy as before. His skin had turned pale, contrasting against his bright clothing. But it was not the hair, the skin, or the unusual aura of black smoke around him that scared him: it was his eyes. They had gone from their deep, happy brown, to blood red. They looked like evil red dots against the whites of his eyes. The prominent scowl on his face jolted him out of the haze, reminding him to calm down.

Hands shaking, he gripped his head, the dull throb slowly fading. Whatever he was becoming, it terrified him out of the trance; a luxury for now.

After calming down, he stared at his branded arm. There five brandings on it, each one evenly spaced out. They were glowing even brighter blue now that his fit was over. Lightly tracing the first one, he hated to admit it was his favorite. It was the most painful, but gave him the most edge. He survived the pain and showed that stupid digimon that he could take whatever he dished at him. At a price of course.

The first symbol was in crescent moon, a bit rough around its edges. The shape was unmistakable though and for some reason Tai could not explain, he just knew what the symbols were. What they meant? No damn idea. The second symbol was the profile view of a bird, a raven most likely. He had learned in school that ravens were birds of death, along with crows. The third was an hourglass, the sand collected evenly in both sides of the glass. The fourth and fifth were of a skull and a scythe. He touched them all, so familiar with them that their light glow keeps him sane through his long hours in darkness.

It took the creatures a longer time to come back for his dishes. He had been sitting for maybe a couple of hours, slowly drifting into a light sleep. They came in silently, one unlocking the door and one walking into the cell.

Now was his only chance.

Tai lept at the creature, immediately trying to tackle him to the side. Thanks to the element of surprise, he succeeded in throwing his off for a second, but the creature was much stronger than he anticipated. The creature grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back into the cell. Tai threw his elbow back, catching the jaw but receiving a punch to his right eye by the second evil being. Throwing another elbow back, Tai ripped free of the first creatures grip, throwing a punch himself to the foe in front of him. Dodging it, the creature roared in anger, and bolted at Tai, he felt the hits but failed to do anything but cover himself. Other than his legs, he was too weak everywhere to really get a good hit in. So, he used what he had. When he felt a slight break in the rhythm of the punches, he pushed the front one away, turned and kicked the second, his body hitting the wall with a slight thud. Tai was pissed. His body ached and he was seconds away from freedom. Yelling, he gave the next kick everything he had, catching the creature square in the stomach. His eyes bulged and he fell backwards. Taking the opportunity of escape, Tai ran for the door. He was faced with a hallway and decided to head right and for some odd reason, felt that he had made a good choice.

He ran forever, his muscles never waning and his breath keeping steady. The adrenaline was pumping in full force.

"I must have really hit them hard. I don't hear anything." He said to himself. Glancing behind him, he knew he was right. The creatures were not following and it seemed safe. The walls were definitely made of soil and his assumption of being held underground was correct.

He smelt it before he saw the light. The air had a salty tang to it, like the ocean. When he ran through the opening, his heart burst with joy he had not felt in forever. He was out of that awful place and away from Scythemon. But it burned. The light was intense and he was forced to shield his sensitive eyes.

 _But I cannot stay here. I have to go somewhere for now and rest first._

Keeping his hand in place, he set off towards the ocean in front of him. It was not very far, but suddenly, Tai felt drained.

 _It was so weird. I was supposed to be tired from lack of food and light. But, I felt strong. My whole body felt hot again, the fighting coming almost naturally. I never am prone to getting into fights but it seemed like that was something I have been doing… forever. Please… don't tell me that blood has made me a monster? Oh, shit. My friends… they could be in danger around me now… But, they could be in danger without me now. I have to see Kari regardless. Fuck._

He stumbled, bumping into some sort of object. Without turning to look he continued to walk.

"Hey! You!" called a gruff voice. "What is your problem bud?" Tai continued walking, ignoring whatever that thing was. He spotted what seemed to be a cave off to the side of a small gathering in between the forest lining.

"Is that a cave? I can't see too well right now."

"Yes, it is. But what does that matter to you? You should say sorry!" the creature followed him to the cave as he grumbled. After sitting down inside, he leaned against the cool wall land uncovered his eyes.

"Whoa, bud, you look dreadful. Are you okay? Need some water?" Sighing, Tai looked down at the thing that was annoyingly bothering him. He was surprised to see a pretty normal looking digimon. It was like a small bear, all black save for its blue eyes and small cross bow strapped to its back.

"No, I'm fine, just worn out. Who are you?"

"Better question is, who are you? You must be someone important to be in this sort of state."

"I'm a human. Tai Kamiya."

"I am Bearmon. Why are you here?"

"I was kidnapped… by Scythemon if you know him." Suddenly, Bearmon cried out, covering his mouth with his paws.

"Oh man, you must have done something just awful!"

"I didn't do anything. He kidnapped me to make me a slave."

"Well, then you must be powerful for him to want you. I can help you. I know this continent like the back of my paw." He grinned, sticking his little paw in Tai's face. Smiling, Tai gently pushed it aside.

"Okay. But I need to find my friend and then leave."

"Oh so we need to find more of you?"

"Yeah. I can't go anywhere without them."

"Okay, I will definitely help you my bud Tai! No worries; Bearmon will solve everything!"

 **Sorry this took so long guys. I had a rough few weeks BUT I wanted to get this chapter on Tai out before Christmas. And yes, some might be saying, whoa he got out fast. Where was the almighty Scythemon that whole time? Seems too easy…**

 **You'll get your answers and the story will get complicated. Get ready for some fun in the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

Bearmon was definitely a talker. While Tai attempted to think out a plan for finding a way off whatever island he was on, the little digimon kept up a conversation at all times.

"… and that's when I told him to back off, because I may look small but I pack a good punch."

"Hey, not trying to be mean, but could you please stop talking for a second? I can't think." Tai rubbed his forehead, looking around the forest surroundings.

 _Seems like we are just going in circles. Everything looks exactly the same and it's so dark now._ Glancing at the sky, he noticed a gray cloud clashing with the dark blue.

"Bearmon, what is that cloud?"

"Oh, that is coming from the volcano at the center of the island."

"How close is it?"

"Ehh, about a day or two depending on if we get in a fight or not." Tai nodded. Knowing that height could be an advantage, he decided the best plan of action was to head to higher ground and look for any sign of an escape.

"Take me there."

"You want to go to the volcano? Dude, you don't even know the kind of awful digimon that are crawling around there!"

"I'm willing to take that chance. I have to look for my friends from higher up, not surrounded by trees."

Bearmon sighed, shrugged and started walking to his left.

"Dude, are all you humans weird? It seems like you're totally cool with being killed. First a run in with Scythemon and now you think you can take on some powerful digimon alone?"

"Alone? Are you not with me?"

"I mean, I'm more like a guide. I try to avoid altercations that will get me potentially killed."

"Well, then I guess I can fend for myself… somehow."

Kari—

"So, how long until we find some sort of clearing, Izzy?" asked Davis. "I like nature and all, but this forest gives me the absolute creeps." Veemon nodded vigorously.

"Give me a second. My computer is showing me that there is a small clearing ahead. Just a few more steps… ah, see!" They walked into a moderate clearing, nothing on the ground other than grass. "Okay, everyone, let's take a break so I can figure out where to go next." Agreeing eagerly, everyone sat down to pick at their snack supplies. It was quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts. They had been traveling for about a day through the forest. Kari was exhausted, both physically and mentally, her head swimming with thoughts about her brother. Sipping her water, she glanced around the circle.

 _Seems like I'm not the only one on the brink of passing out._

"Okay, so, my computer is showing me a really big opening underground. I bet a cave leads to this place and I bet that is where Tai was taken to. The rest of the island is either dense forest, small clearings, or beaches."

"Well, then let's head there." Said Matt.

"I would say yes, but the cave to finding it is unknown. We could walk around for years and never find it."

Sighed Izzy, frustrated.

"Is there a mountain?" asked Kari. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Why does a mountain matter?" Asked Gatomon from her lap.

"Well, if I were lost and trying to find something through a thick forest, I would try to go higher and look down. They do it in movies all the time." As she explained her theory, Izzy smiled, nodding.

"You're right Kari. And I bet Tai thought of the same thing. We had to do that many times in the Digiworld the first time we came through."

"So, where is the highest point?" asked Sora.

"Well, according to the map, there is a volcano in the center of the island, just a day or two away. We

can start walking there once everyone is ready."

"Agreed. But before we do that, how about we discuss this whole 'new feature' thing." Said Matt, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Well, Gennai said that they would activate when we needed them. We have only had one fight so far and the enemy retreated soon after. I think we would have to be engaged in a longer, more intense battle for any of us to actually activate the feature."

"So, like, a life and death battle?" asked TK. Patomon glanced up at him.

"But TK, we don't want a battle like that to really happen, right?"

"Well, of course not. But that might be the only way to figure it out. Honestly, I could live without knowing my secret new power if it means that." He shrugged.

"Well, considering the level of digimon inhabiting the island, I would not be surprised if that happened on the way to the volcano."

"What is that supposed to mean, Izzy?" Kari cried. The talk of death had her on edge. The last thing she wanted to talk about was death being so close to them, or her brother.

"I hate to say it, but I researched a bit about this island just now and tapped into the digimon database. There are a ton of high level digimon roaming around. We have to find Tai and fast. Without Agumon, he's a sitting piece of meat for these guys."

Tai—

Tai could have sworn the volcano kept moving back as they moved forward. It had been a whole day, and, thankfully, not a single attack. There were a few close calls, but Bearmon had sensed the digimon in time to pull Tai down into a thick of bushes, or behind a fat tree. These digimon were nothing like Tai had ever seen. Most of them looked like potential monsters from horror films. The recent siting had sent chills down his spine. The digimon was all black, with the body of a dragon, but formed as a human. It's large wings were ripped and scarred. Half of its face was covered by a white mask, while its jaw hung free. The yellowed teeth jutted out from its bottom lips, creating a jagged smile on its face. Tai watched while it killed a smaller digimon with ease, laughing as the poor creature cried in pain. Glancing at Bearmon, Tai wondered why he was on this island. The little digimon looked out of place here on such a dark island.

"Let's take a break now, yo." Said Bearmon. Snapping out of his thoughts, Tai nodded, following the bear to a small cave. The sky had turned ink black and it signaled to Tai that they needed to get out of predators site.

"Here, take this." Bearmon handed Tai oddly colored pieces of fruit, along with a bundle of dark leaves.

"What is…?"

"They're all good, don't worry. The leaves are to keep you full and strong."

Tai bit into a round piece of something, it's red and black stripes causing his hesitancy. However, he was surprised. It tasted like a sweet apple. Looking down at his bite mark, he felt relief when the inside looked exactly like an apple.

"Told you." Snickered Bearmon. He also took a bite of a piece of food, lumpy, bright purple thing.

They ate in silence for a while, Tai drifting back to Scythemon and the black blood. His body felt so strong, stronger than it had when he played his last game. He noticed that his body had filled back in from before he practically starved himself.

"Bearmon."

"Mmm?"

"Why are you here?" Tai turned to ask his new friend, watching him carefully. The digimon stopped chewing and sighed.

"I knew you'd ask soon. Honestly, I was sent here because I made a mistake."

"A… mistake?" Tai did not feel threatened by his friend, but he stayed cautious.

"Yeah. I was a totally different digimon before I was redigitized a while ago. I used to be a champion level digimon. You should have seen me! I was huge, strong and had tons of weapons. I kept the villages safe around me and no one ever made fun of me the way they do here. It was great." He sighed, his eyes glazing over with nostalgia. "You would have thought I was totally kickass. But, one day, I met some digimon emperor guy, claiming that he could make me stronger after I had lost my first fight with a Wolfmon. So, I became greedy and agreed to let him experiment on me to make me stronger. Seems that those black gears do make you stronger, but not in the way I thought. I accidently destroyed a village thanks to that stupid thing and once the gear mysteriously vanished when the world was saved, my friends shunned me and fought me. Obviously I lost and was sent here by Gennai. Ever since then, I've just been trying to lay low."

Tai sat in thoughtful silence, processing what this little bear had told him. It was hard to picture him being of rough and tough fighter digimon, but it made sense as to why he was stuck here.

"So, we all make mistakes Bearmon. At least you realized yours."

"Yeah, I guess. I just want to get off this stupid island. But, I think Gennai forgot about me." Sighing sadly, he looked down at the dark cave floor, his ears drooping.

"Look, when we make it off this island, come with me and I can take you to Gennai. I can explain that you helped me and he is guaranteed to allow you back to your home."

"You think so? Really?" Bearmon looked up expectantly.

"Yeah, little guy. I do-"

Suddenly, a low growl rang through the bushes near the mouth of the cave. Bearmon's fur immediately stood on end and he stood up, brandishing his small sword.

"Tai, get back." He growled, narrowing his eyes towards the dark forest outside.

"What is going on, Bearmon?"

"We have company; bad company. It sounds like a Wolfman and smells like there is more than one."

Tai waited, tense and silently freaking out. The growling continued until he could hear the two different tones.

 _Shit._

The two digimon slowly walked out of the forest. They looked just like black wolves, save for three distinctly unique features: they were four times larger, adorned with a larger, prominently jutting lower jaw and what looked like retractable, steel claws. They growled in unison, every red eye trained on Tai. He felt his blood run cold and his heart rate frantically rise. One of the wolves gave no warning as it leaped at him, claws jutting out in seconds. Suddenly, as Tai screamed, one of his brands started of glow bright blue, burning and humming as if coming alive.

Then all went black.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took so long guys. And yes, some might be saying, whoa he got out fast. Where was the almighty Scythemon that whole time? Seems too easy…**

 **You'll get your answers and the story will get complicated. Get ready for some fun in the next chapter!**

"Tai! Friend Tai! YO TAIII!"

Tai heard a voice faintly calling his name as he slowly woke. Head pounding and right arm on fire, he groaned as the voice continued to grow louder. When he cracked open an eye, Bearmon screamed inches from his face.

"Okay, okay! I'm fin, jeezus." Pushing the bear's face away, Tai clutched his forehead with his other hand, slowly sitting up. "What… happened"

"Well, we came across three Wolfmon. You blacked out, I kicked two of their butts and when the third was going to sneak attack me, you suddenly sat up, yelled some nonsense and BAM! Your arm started blasting strange blue flames out of your hand. You basically made wolf jerky out of them."

"I… killed them?"

"Oh yeah, dude. Even their data was completely destroyed."

Tai blanched, suddenly sick to his stomach. He had never physically killed something before, especially not from a weird flame attack spewing from his own hand. Although his arm was now warm, he looked at it with a bit of fear and mostly shock.

"What… did Scthyemon do to me?"

"Ahh, so the bad dude put those marks on you? Jeez, what a crazy loon! Whatever they are, I'd say they are bad, bad news. Your eyes lit up and his skin was so pale."

"Let's go. Please."

"But, Tai, you're so weak-"

"No, I'm fine. I don't want to be here anymore. I'm getting the chills, like somehow that signaled where I am. We have to get out of here now."

Bearmon stared at his new friend, concerned for him. The human seemed to have went through an awful ordeal and Bearmon hated seeing his friends in trouble.

"Okay, Tai. But, let's go my way. I think taking a slightly indirect route through the trees instead of the path will be better. It's usually how I get around anyways.

"Please tell me you have a better plan?" Tai groaned, walking behind his hyper friend. The little bear laughed gruffly, shoving his fist in the air in triumphant glee.

"Of course, my human Tai friend! The only way to find something is to retrace your steps. And since you can't remember yours, we will just follow mine. I was a bit away from that volcano earlier today." He grinned, looking for Tai's approval. Shrugging his shoulders, the teen put on a brave smile and kept walking.

"Sure, I guess it could work. Eventually we will run into something. But where were you before you got here?"

"Well, this morning I went from my home on the beach, to the fruit trees some ways away from it. Then I ate a whole lot of food. After that, I talked to a friend at the clearing, and then headed here!"

"Clearing?"

"Yeah. It's a few miles away from the volcano you were under, but it is where a lot of digimon gather to communicate or fight around here."

"Gotcha, little guy. Okay, well show me the way."

"Izzy, please tell me this clearing is just up ahead. My feet can't take this anymore." Whined Mimi, her digimon holding her hand as they walked along the rocky path.

"Mimi, you should've worn better shoes. Now you will blisters and I barely have enough cream for that." Joe said, pushing his glasses up his sweaty nose.

"Well, at least she wore tennis shoes." Shrugged Matt. "That should count for something."

"What good do they do if they hurt?" said Yolei, slightly irritated at everyone's whining.

"Hey, I didn't think they would hurt! I thought I broke them in properly." Huffed Mimi, crossing her arms at the younger girl.

"Okay, okay enough. We have to stay optimistic you guys. No use getting all stuffy and angry at each other." Said Sora, putting her hand on her friend's shoulders.

"Yeah, whatever." The two girls fell silent. Nobody talked for a second. The heat from the rocks was starting to slow them down and the food was becoming scarce. Izzy looked at his computer again.

"Only three miles to go."

Suddenly, Mimi cried out in frustration and sat down on a rock off the path.

"I can't take this anymore. Give me a second to sit." She was sweating like the others, but her stamina was one of the weakest in the group. Palmon glanced at her partner and looked worriedly at Izzy.

"She is right, it is getting hard to press on. We should stop and rest for a little while."

"But Tai could be hurt somewhere! We can't slow down now!" exclaimed Agumon. Kari nodded and looked at the older digidestined.

"He's right. Tai's been gone for six whole days! I can't imagine him on this island without Agumon for protection."

"I know, but maybe Mimi is right. Some of us really do need a break." Said Joe, gently. "No offense, but your face is red and your breathing is shallow. The last thing we want is people dropping to the ground from dehydration."

"Okay, I say ten minutes and then we continue." Said Matt.

"Deal. Everyone drink some water and rest."

"How much more?" asked Tai. His head was starting to hurt from all walk and the temperature was rising steadily.

"Only two miles. If you want, I can digivolve and carry you there." Bearmon suggested.

"You might have to. Seems that whatever that villain did to me is making me lose stamina."

"Got it! Here I go."

BEARMON DIGIVOLVE TO…. GRIZLAMON.

The digimon standing before Tai was enormous, almost the same size as Greymon. The little bear had morphed into a larger black bear. Its ears were completely metal and all its paws were fit in metal claws. The small bow and arrow and become a machine gun strapped to its back, connected to a metallic hole in its stomach. The teeth protruded over the champion digimons lower jaw, and those light blue eyes had turned dark.

"Whoa. You look pretty cool Grizlamon. What's that hole in your stomach?" asked Tai.

"It is a bazooka. Hopefully I will not have to use it anytime soon. Now, let us be off."

As the group continued to head off towards the volcanoes, Izzy suddenly spotted something on his computer's map. Up ahead, they could just start the see the clearing and the volcano.

"Guys, I see something." Matt turned and looked at the screen.

"What is it?" he replied. Izzy tapped the dot and waited for the server to connect. A zoomed in picture appeared and the coordinates were labeled beside it as it kept moving.

"I can't tell. It's about how far we are to the clearing."

"So, that means we are going to run into it." Ken stated.

"Oh boy, what if it is a bad digimon?" asked Wormmon.

"Then we will just have to fight and win!" exclaimed Davis, him and Veemon punching fists.

"Or, we could rationally think of a way to avoid having to fight another evil digimon like the last one again." Joe reasoned, pointedly looking at the younger digidestined. "The last thing we need is more fighting and injuries on an island where 'death' is the name!" Kari flinched at the statement, causing Sora to glare at Joe.

"Nice going, genius. It'll be okay Kari! For all we know, that could be Tai and we're only a mile away from him according to Izzy's computer." She nodded, the look in her eyes blank. TK nodded his thanks to Sora and grabbed Kari's hand.

"Now, Joe is right. We have to be extra careful. We do not want to have to go as far into the island that we get injured fighting the whole time. But, we do need to at least reach that volcano. That is the most logical place Tai could be. So, I say we keep going and whatever is there, like Davis said- we will just fight it and try to win." Izzy stated, looking at Matt for the go ahead command. Nodding, Matt agreed.

"Well why don't we just digivolve and carry you guys. I think most of us are ready and replenished!" suggested Biyomon.

"Are you sure? We could be easily spotted by another digimon." Asked Sora, worriedly. The other digimon immediately nodded.

"Yes, we can!"

"It'll be much faster!"

"I wouldn't mind. You guys need to save energy too!"

After a quick decision, the kids agreed to digivolve only a few of digimon, to save strength and numbers in case there was a need to fight again.

"Let's have Garurumon, Tentomon and Biyomon digivolve for now. Everyone stay close." Matt decided.

GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO… GARURUMON!

TENTOMON DIGIVOLVE TO…MOTIMON!

BIYOMON DIGIVOLVE TO… YOCOMON!

"Tai… I've been thinking…"

"Ohhh boy, here we go." Tai muttered, making his new friend grunt.

"Well, more like sniffing… and I think there's something bad a head in that clearing."

"What do you mean, 'something bad'?"

"I meannnn, like an enemy."

Tai flinched, his right arm tensing in fear.

"You think it's Scythemon?"

"No… not really. Nevermind, I think I am scaring you for no reason, bud."

They walked in silence for a moment, the slight acidic breeze hitting Tai's forehead gently. Although the sulfur smell did not do anything for his nose, the coolness was welcoming. Grizlamon started to whistle a tune, looking around for other digimon just in case. Suddenly, he grinned.

'What is that creepy grin on your face for?" asked Tai, shoving a fist into the bear's cheek.

"We are here, friend Tai! The clearing is right ahead behind these trees!"

"Good. Then how far to that volcano?"

"Not far at all! Hopefully some of my good friends will be gathered here right now. We could use their escort the rest of the way."

"Good call. Lead the way, dude."

As the pair headed into the thicket of trees and shrubs, Tai heard a familiar voice. His heart jumped and his face broke out in a smile.

"That's Joe. That's my friend Joe's voice!" he exclaimed. Sliding off the bear's back, Tai pushed his way through the leftover bushes and stepped out into a large grass clearing. A sizable pond was in the middle with tiny stream connected to it. As the other group walked into the clearing, everyone, including the cool and collected Matt gasped in shock, happiness, disbelief. Their friend, looking a little worse for wear, but still standing, was waving at them. Behind him, a huge bear digimon also waved, his impressive array of weapons catching Izzy's attention.

"Oh my god, Tai! Onii- chan! Onii-chan, are you okay?!"

"Tai, Tai, Tai! We missed you!"

"Oh thank god we don't have to continue across the island."

"He's okay, he's okay!"

"Tai, you freaking blockhead! Why did you go and get yourself kidnapped!"

"I will kick your ass the second after I hug you, idiot!"

Agumon was the first one to reach the boy, tackling him into a biggest, teariest hug his little arms could manage.

"Taichiiiii! I'm so sorryyy. I could't protect you at all. Please don't ever get kidnapped again." Agumon cried into his partner's chest. The others let the two hug for a moment.

"It's okay, buddy. I'm so happy to see you, you have no idea! I'm sorry all this happened. Thank you for finding me." Tai hugged his partner back, refusing to let go for several minutes. Kari started crying, her worry pouring out. She walked over and fell to her knees beside the two. Tai immediately wrapped his left arm around her, bringing her into the three- way hug.

"Onii-chan… you *hic* look awful. I'm so sorry we.. *hic* couldn't find you sooner. I hope… *hic* you're okay." She buried her face is his arm, violently shaking from the shock and happiness.

"I know. I'm sorry for making everyone worry." The others smiled, each giving a hug and words of comfort to the newly found leader.

"We have to go guy. This island smells like trouble. Gennai needs to look at Tai properly too." Matt said, taking his friend's hand and helping him up.

"Yeah, he is right. We need to get off this island before…" Tai hesitiated, Matt eyeing him closely.

"Before what, Tai?"

The others waited for a response, but Tai knew telling them now was unwise. They all looked shooken up already and he was exhausted.

"I'll tell you later. Grizlamon, you can digivolve back. You can come with us."

"Wait, Tai, we can't just bring him along."

"Yes we can. I promised. He literally saved my life. He's not bad, I swear." Matt gave it a moment's thought. Izzy, understanding the determination in Tai's voice, put his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Let's take him. If he saved Tai, he is a friend of ours." Matt sighed, knowing the battle was lost. Everyone else agreed as well. As Grizlamon digivoled into his adorable Bearmon self, Mimi squealed over him, insisting that he walk with her and Palomon.

The gang is back together for a second and it seems that maybe Tai can get off this island unscathed? Find out next update.


	9. Chapter 9

**I am SO sorry this took so long guys. I have been so busy ever since the last update with grad school and my new job that writing was the last thing on my mind! However, I do want this story to be a good read for all and intend to start updating once a week. Thank you for the patience! If you still love it, share it!**

 **I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON; JUST ALL THE VILLIANS.**

"So, tell us what happened." Said Kari, her eyes scanning her brother's bruised body. He cringed at the attention, hating that his arm was throbbing and his head pounding from the adrenaline crash. Agumon immediately stuck to his partner's side, keeping one paw on his dirty pants. Tai knew he looked worse than he truly felt, rubbing dirt between his fingers.

"Do I have to right now? Can it wait until we get to Gennai's place?" he asked. She stayed quiet and he thought that maybe he had won this fight. Unfortunately, Kari had some others to back her up.

"Actually, I think Kari is right. You should tell us now that everything is fresh. If you go to sleep and forget even the smallest detail, it could mean disaster." Said Izzy, looking at Tai sympathetically.

"Not to hound you about it, dude. We just were so worried for you, ya know?" grinned Davis, lightly tapping Tai on the shoulder. Sighing, the young man shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, fine. I'll tell you. But, everyone keep walking. We need to off this island as soon as possible."

"Right he is, new friends!" said Bearmon, thumping his chest.

"So, after I was kidnapped, I woke up in an underground cell. It was basically a cave, so I couldn't tell you exactly where it was. But after a while, some new digimon came into the room and talked to me. I couldn't get a whole lot out of his except that his name was Scythemon."

"I have never heard of him either!" said Tentomon.

"Wouldn't be surprised. Guy looked like a demon. Creepy white face, black cloak. Anyways, he was saying something about…" Tai hesitated. The easy part of the story was over, but this; this could force his friends to avoid him, to fear him like he feared himself.

"What's wrong?" asked Sora, gently. Tai shook his head.

"Nothing, it just is…creepy to repeat. So, like I was saying, this guy said something like, 'Your crest is strong, so I want to make you my successor of death'." Everyone visibly gasped. Izzy stopped in his tracks, causing several of the digidestined to collide with each other in shock.

"Wait… Tai…. Gennai talked about this. He received a message about some crazy new villain that can destroy everything. He said something about 'watch out for the darkest hour'."

"Yeah, he mentioned that. Did Gennai say anything else about him; hey, keep on walking guys." Tai said.

"Yeah. He's a demon. No one knows how he got in, but he's been creating tears in the system and breaking connections."

"Hm… that could explain why things in the digiworld felt a bit odd the days before I was sucked into a blackhole."

"Wait, Tai, finish your part of the story. Gennai can explain all this later." Said Yolei.

"Right. Anyways, so after that I tried to ask questions but he didn't listen. Now Kari, please don't freak out. This next part is… graphic. For like, maybe four days, he kept coming in several different times and injected me with his blood. He called it 'black blood' and that it would give me some sort of powers. And, I also got these brandings-"

"What the hell?! Brandings?"

"Tai, oh my gosh, did it hurt?"

"I need to look at those to make sure you aren't going to get an infection."

"TAI, OMG!"

"Taichi, please let us stop and check on them."

"Oh, I smell trouble. Who knows what this could mean!"

"Everyone, chill!" Tai yelled. "Let me finish. So, I got five of them, all different shapes on my right forearm. And I think he is right. I don't know why but… I keep getting these black outs and apparently, I killed two high- level digimon. Like, just me, no Agumon or weapons or anything—except Bearmon."

"Destroying them with Bearmon isn't exactly killing-" started Izzy.

"No, no. Tai killed them! It was crazy! They poofed into nothing; no data trail afterwards." Replied Bearmon.

Everyone stayed silent for a moment to think that over.

"Wait so… you like, straight up murdered a couple of digimon that would have probably taken our strongest digimon to fight?" Asked Yolei.

"Yeah, sort of." Tai shrugged. He kept his eyes forward but he noticed a feeling a nausea coming over him. Suddenly, the island felt suffocating and he scanned the surrounding area for Scythemon.

"You feel it too, huh?" asked Bearmon. His fur was standing on end.

"Feel what, Tai?" asked Kari, looking around worriedly at the blackened trees. "What do you feel?"

"We need to run. NOW!" Just as Tai screamed the last command, a loud bang rang through the air and the digidestined felt the ground shake beneath them. A screech, agonizingly piercing, sang through the forest. Clutching their ears, the children took off as fast as they could towards the beach.

"Guys, we need to digivolve! The beach is too far away to run it completely!" yelled Matt. Tai shook his head.

"No! Don't try to fight that thing. If it is what I think it is, we could all die! Keep running!"

"But, Tai-!"

"Just TRUST ME, OKAY?" he yelled. The others gave each other weary glances, but followed their leader. The digimon huddled around their partners, hoping to be the shields to any attacks.

As the group ran through the forest, the screeching continued. The noisy serenade grew closer and closer as they plundered through the thick trees. After leaving the footpath to hopefully snare the mystery digimon in the trees behind them, Izzy spoke up.

"Guy… I smell the beach. It must be close! But I can also feel the ground shaking too!"

"Me too, Izzy. I think whatever is screeching has finally caught up!" shouted Sora. She turned to look over her shoulder. Sure enough, the digimon was only about twenty feet behind them, knocking down trees along its way.

"Just keep running! I see the ocean now!" said Matt. TK nodded, casting a glance at Kari to make sure she was okay.

"STOP!" someone screamed, 'LOOK OUT!" Tai halted to a stop, hovering right over the edge of a cliff. He grunted when Matt slammed into him from behind, causing his right foot to slip off the slope. Crying out and reaching for air, Tai felt his fatigue overcome him as his body fell. The last thing he saw was Agumon's face twist in aguish as he watched the loss of his partner for a second time.

All went black.

As the soft taps of feet and whispers of a calm breeze floated into consciousness, he slowly opened his eyes. With a groan, he carefully looked around his surroundings. The room was bare, with just wood walls and sliding paper door. He was laying on a comfortable mat and had a thick blanket thrown on his body. To his right, he saw multiple bowls of some sort of liquid. They smelt awful and caused him to look left. There he saw something much better than what looked like liquid rotten broccoli.

A plate, fixed with a mound of rice and two thin fish, was still steaming from being cooked. A glass of water and a candy bar sat next to it. He squeezed his eyes shut as a throb echoed throughout his head. Grabbing his right arm, he swore at the pain.

"Where am I?" he replied to no one. After what seemed like hours, Tai drifted into sleep once more before being woken up by multiple sets of feet attempting to walk quietly.

"Do you think he's awake?" asked a familiar voice.

"No idea. But it has been a day. We should just check." That was his sister.

"Like we've been checking every ten minutes for the past 32 hours?" said someone, probably Davis, sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up. You're the first one to check every hour!" snickered TK.

"Shut up everyone. You'll wake him up if you—" As Izzy rounded the corner, his face lit up with a huge smile. "Speak of the devil, look who is awake."

"Oh my gosh, Tai! I'm so happy you're okay!" Kari pushed past Izzy to fall to her knees beside her brother.

"Me too, Kari. Is everyone okay? No one is hurt?"

"Look silly, it is YOU that those questions should be directed at." Replied Joe.

"Yeah, dude. You're looking pretty worse for wear."

"Matt!" scolded Sora. "We really are all so worried about you, Tai." She said, her voice softening.

"Well, help me sit up and hand me that food, please. I'm worried about it going cold." He grinned. The others smiled, Kari and Agumon helping sat his back against some pillows anchored on the wall.

"Soooo, where are we?" he asked between a mouthful of rice.

"First, eat slowly. Your body is still recuperating from lack of proper nutrition." Said Joe.

"We are in Gennai's palace." Said Izzy.

"How'd we get here? And, what happened after I fell?"

"Well,' started Yolei. "Matt tried to jump and catch you but thankfully Joe and Izzy were there to stop him! So Agumon jumped after you and Sora digivolved Biyomon to catch you and him."

"Did you see whatever was chasing us?" Tai asked.

"Yeah. It was some sort of goblin-ish looking digimon. Izzy didn't have time to find out the details, but it wasn't about to wait patiently for us to analyze it. When it went to attack us, we didn't have anywhere to go. The beach was right below the cliff, so we decided to follow your lead and jump. Basically, everyone who had a flying type digimon digivolved their partners and we all grabbed into whoever we could to fly down. Seems the goblin digimon didn't like heights. Whalemon was waiting for us when we got to the shore so Gomamon digivolved to Ikkakumon and swam us over. You were drifting in and out of sleep for the next three days. Whalemon made sure to swim extra fast so we could get you here as soon as possible."

"Wait, Whalemon?"

"Long story short- there are other Whalemon." Said Izzy. "What is most important is figuring out why you were kidnapped and what all this crazy stuff with your arm and blood means."

"Is this how all humans act to their friends who were just kidnapped?" asked a familiar voice rounding the corner. Tai smiled at the comment and waved at Bearmon as he stepped into the room. Gennai was following close behind, a soft smile on his face as he looked at the Digidestined leader. He immediately walked over to Joe, eyeing Tai's physical appearance with worry.

"How is he?"

"Better then when we first saw him. The bruises and scrapes are healing nicely. His vitals are normal and from what I can tell, no fever or infections. He just needs a ton of proper rest and probably a scan on his arm. Blood work will be done in a bit, I just want him to eat for now."

"Ah, speaking of that." Gennai nodded a thanks to Joe and walked over the sit near Tai's bed. "We have much to discuss children. Please, everyone get comfortable."

The group took refuge on whatever surface they could squeeze themselves onto. Agumon and Kari chose to sit on Tai's bed with him, Agumon getting bites of food every now and then.

"Tai, stop feeding him your meal! You need all that." Huffed Joe.

"Oh, it'll be fine. Agumon is eating out of happiness. He hasn't been stuffing his face the past few days like normal, he must be starving!" said Mimi.

"Hmmff…" Agumon agreed with a mouthful of food.

"So, Gennai. We told you everything Tai told us. Do you have any idea how to stop this 'Scythemon'?" asked Matt.

"Well, I can assure you it will not be easy. But, no. As of right now, his origins are still a mystery. I can only say that he clearly caused a tear in between your world and the Digital World. How he achieved something without a digiport or some sort of computer is beyond me."

"But Gennai, we basically walked off that island. And when a digimon did try to follow us, it lost its nerves at the last second. This Thanatos Island wasn't as deadly as we thought. Maybe, Scythemon is not as strong as we thought." Suggested Yolei.

"Oh no, do not be mistaken. Children, I received another message from the same unidentified source. At first, I was worried for your safety. Just because the monsters do not show themselves right away, does not mean they are not there. The island is vast and from what I heard, you were only on a three mile stretch of it. However, I was also surprised how quickly you made it back. So, a thought occurred to me."

"If it is the same as mine, I think we might be in big trouble." Said Izzy, mostly to himself.

"Indeed, child. This creature is not stupid, nor weak. I believe that he purposefully let Taichi go."

"Wait, you mean that he let Tai walk out of there and leave the island after all he did to him? Just like that?" asked Matt, incredulous to such an idea.

"Think about it guys. Tai's… transformation, or whatever he did to him, was complete when we found him. From the looks of it, I would say that this is a trial run. He is probably watching us right now, or at least knows where we are and will come to attack soon. He might even take Tai back to that island." Explained Izzy.

"So, what now? Do we wait for the crazy demon- digimon to come to us?" asked TK.

"Hell no! I say we charge in and attack him first!" Davis exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah!" shouted Veemon. Thankfully, Yolei gave the pair a swift correction via a punch to the back of the head.

"Guys, our main priority is making sure Tai is safe." Scolded Sora.

"But… from what?" Kari asked softly. Tai put down his fork and put aside his dish.

"I don't need you all worrying about me. Scythemon can follow us all he wants, but we have a ton of strong digimon to attack."

"Yeah, but, what is he, Tai?"

"I don't know. Evil, I'm guessing. He didn't look human or like a normal digimon. I can't imagine him being anything from either world we know. What I do know is that we need to figure out what 'the darkest hour' means. He mentioned it to both you and me, so clearly it must be important." He directed this statement at Gennai whose wrinkled face was lost in thought.

"Hmm… I have combed through some ancient texts and have read nothing about 'the darkest hour'… maybe it could be some sort of play-on-words or metaphor."

"Maybe, it could just mean an eclipse?" offered Yolei.

"Or, it could mean the hour of the night when the sun is completely on the other side of the Earth, which would be total darkness, save for the moon's light." Shrugged Sora.

"What if it means nothing? What if It's just a day where he chooses when he is most pissed off?" said Matt. The others looked at him, Sora rolling her eyes.

"I hate to admit it, but any of those could be the correct answer… even Matt's… cryptic deciphering." Said Gennai. "For now, you must all rest here and wait for a bit. When Taichi is better, I implore that you go back to your world and remain there until you hear from me. Your digimon will stay with you. Those upgrades must be used wisely… and I have a terrible feeling they will be utilized very, very soon."


	10. Chapter 10

**Dear everyone, there is no excuse, I honestly just really suck as a person... I went off to grad school, fell in love with a great guy and gave myself to my studies, internship and him, totally losing all time for my story. But alas, I am back! I promised to never abandon a story again after having to abandon one** years **ago about Hitsugaya from Bleach. So, without further ado, this is a short chapter but I hope it helps to say I am very sorry to my dedicated readers:** (

After drifting in and out of a fitful sleep, Tai sighed with frustration. It was late evening and he was only day four into recovery. Joe had let him walk a bit a couple of hours ago but constantly kept an eye on him. He wanted to kick something—like a soccer ball—and lose himself in physical activity. His body was stiff with disuse and his arm was consistently throbbing.

Gennai and Joe had taken blood samples earlier that day and Tai was waiting to hear the shitty news. Izzy was working with Yolei on what these brandings could mean or at least how they function. So far, Agumon and Kari insisted on sleeping in the same room, checking on him each hour and making sure he was monitored whenever he was allowed out of bed to stretch his limbs. Thankfully, the rest of the gang realized how it irked him and left him alone.

There was a soft knock at the door and Agumon poked his head into the room.

"Taichi? Can I come in?" he asked softly. Tai smiled and opened his arms. The orange digimon immediately ran up to the bed and jumped into his partner's welcoming embrace.

"What's up, buddy?" Tai asked, petting the little dinosaur's head.

"Joe said you should take a walk outside for some fresh air."

"Is that so? Alright then, guess if that's what the doctor orders." Tai pulled his aching body up into a sitting position and sighed at his arm. "I wonder if they found out what's wrong with me yet."

"I think Joe wanted to talk to you about it. We should go meet the others; they're waiting!"

When Tai slowly walked outside to the front area of Gennai's abode, he was surrounded by worried faces. All the digidestined, plus their digimon and Gennai's assistant digimon were all sitting down. There was a plethora of food on a long tablecloth along the center of the yard.

"Tai, come on and eat. We have a lot to talk about." Said Izzy. He patted the spot next to him, which positioned Tai beside Gennai at the head of the cloth and in front of Joe. The rest were piled in, all looking expectantly at their elderly friend. He cleared his throat and turned to Tai.

"I know you do not want the spotlight or the worry. But, I feel as though these brandings could mean something huge and something terrible in store for you. There is no way to sugarcoat my conclusion these past few days, my boy." Tai waited, exhaling heavily as he sat back.

"Well, lay it on me Gennai. I can handle it."

"After researching the symbols and Izzy deciphering the meanings, we concluded that these are a cycle… a cycle of death."

BOOM!

The wall opposite exploded as a large, dark figure smashed through the wood. The kids screamed, ducking and covering their faces to shield from the debris.

"GET DOWN! ALL OF YOU, GET DOWN!" Shouted Gennai, his voice coming out strangled as Tai shook his head to clear the ringing of the explosion. The figure, massive compared to the small room, loomed over the group, locking eyes with Tai. Its body resembled a mismatch of pieces of metal, all different shades of grey, bronze peeking through some cracks. He grunted, slowly reaching out to the goggled boy.

"TAICHI, MOVE!" Without hesitation, Tai ducked as Agumon sprang towards the creature.

"PEPPER BREATH, PEPPER BREATH, PEPPER BREATH!" He pelted the newcomer is balls of flame, attempting to hit it's beady, red eyes. The lump of a head grunted once again, and swatted the digimon away like a fly.

"Hey, don't you touch my partner, jerk face!" Tai screamed, running towards his fallen friend.

"Halt, Courage, for my strike is true. I was told to bring you back, but not unharmed."

"Help Tai, Gabumon!"

"You too, Tentomon!"

"Right!" they exclaimed in unison. However, their heroism was thwarted as the new digimon released his power.

"SWORD STRIKE!" The digimon raised both arms, pointing them directly at the incoming digimon. Suddenly, two blades flashed with amazing precision and speed as they pierced both smaller digimon in different shoulders. Pixelated blood, a lighter red compared to the dark of human's, poured out of the wounds.

"No, Gabumon!" Matt cried, catching his fallen digimon in shaky arms. "What the hell just happened? Digimon can bleed?" He looked towards Gennai, whose face was white with confusion and, so help them all, fear.

"Now, then, allow me to take what I came for." The large digimon said, once again walking towards Tai.

Tai heart was beating out of his chest while sweat beaded on his brow. This digimon met serious business and from what he could tell after that insane attack, he could potentially kill his partner. His friends were frozen in fear and indecision. No one wanted to attack for fear of the digimon aiming anywhere else but the shoulder of their partner. Tai began to think, rapidly peeling through possible escape strategies. As the digimon edged closer, his brain stopped. His arm, a dull throb, had begun to pulse again under the mental strain and fear of the situation, causing his blood to boil and vision to become hazy.

 _It is happening again… shit._

He heard the faint call of his name, Agumon shaking his arm as Bearmon ran up tell him something.

All went black.

"What is happening to Taichi, Bearmon?" said Agumon, backing up slowly from his human partner. Tai's face drained of color before Agumon saw the color change in his eyes. They were black rimmed surrounding a red iris. The brands on his arm began to pulse a weird blue as the veins in his arms and face lit up. Tai looked almost…demonic.

And in the eyes of a loyal, dedicated digimon, his partner was swallowed by something pure evil.


End file.
